Night Flowers
by JeffC FTW
Summary: These flowers came out in the light of the moon. They glowed the night her brother was born. They regrew the night the war ended. And now they blossomed the moment they acknowledged their emotions. First in the Night Flowers Saga.
1. Prologue: Blossoms on a Bloody Night

**After over a year and many Naruto fics, I finally pick up to begin the first of this series, and already I have "The Winds of Spring" and "Bamboo Woods". This is the prequel to them both, so it's not recommended to read them before this. Named after yet another YouTube composition piece by one of the Fiechter brothers. Perhaps it's tiring to say this by now, but it's in case someone doesn't know.**

 **This is the story of the beginning of the love between Itachi and Hanaru, and how a long-hidden enemy returns to cause them all mayhem (if anyone did read the two sequels already, then you already know WHO it is).**

 **Disclaimer: Hanaru belongs to me (and my man, the true Naruto nerd), but the rest of the characters and story are property of Masashi Kishimoto himself.**

Prologue

Blossoms on a Bloody Night

Wide blue eyes looked up at him, frightened and confused. For a moment, he considered relenting and just taking her with him so they could do this as a family - but Lord Third and his wife insisted that a young child should not be involved in this, and he agreed, being a father and going to be for a second time. When this was over, he would come back and retrieve her so she could see her new baby brother or sister.

When he and Kushina told their little girl she was going to be a big sister, she was all but ecstatic and jumping around the apartment that even Jiraiya-sensei had to guffaw and joke that they had another loudmouth in the family coming - which earned the threat of a punch from Kushina, and it was not just the new pregnancy hormones, mind you. In fact, they planned to also name the kid after the main character in his master and father figure's book. _Naruto - the name he randomly imagined while fasting on ramen one day._ But what else would it be? The tale told of a ninja with all the guts he could have...

...something he planned to pass on to both his children himself.

 _Maybe this new one will have red hair like their mother. One version of me already, so why not another of Kushina, just to make her happy?_ But in the end, genes ruled over your wishes. Minato couldn't care what his children looked like, either way. Hanaru was his pride and joy, and so would her new brother or sister.

He locked eyes with the other, with one eye revealed and the other covered by the mask - the last of his students who was consumed by darkness, but whom he believed could protect this little one with his life. "Kakashi...look after her until I come back," Minato said firmly, and the other man nodded.

"Anything for you and Kushina, Minato-sensei."

Little did the Yellow Flash know that would be the last time he saw his daughter. And Kushina would never have the chance for her final time.

Her family was skilled with sealing jutsu, which he'd learned in his days himself, and the Uzumaki clan had been very close with the Leaf Village, though many of them dispersed over the Five Great Nations. Kushina...the first time he saw her...her fiery red hair and temper which she used as a weapon against bullies who gave her the nickname "Tomato" in their Academy days. He saw it all from a distance.

He had saved her when she was abducted by Cloud ninja. He saved her after standing by for far too long. That was the start of their love, their passion...and their partnership lasting which led him to becoming Hokage.

She was the _Jinchuuriki_ of the Nine-Tails. He didn't care about that. He just loved her for _her._ She wasn't treated as a human being early on, so how could she be so positive, you would ask? Her will was strong to overcome anything. It was love that overcame hate.

However, being a female vessel came with a great risk. She had a powerful chakra force that suppressed the fox demon, but there was one great moment of weakness: in the nine months of pregnancy, the energy for the seal would be transferred to the unborn as it grew. Someone with the potential to keep the seal intact after the stress of childbirth had to be there.

They had a wonderful daughter already, and now this one coming tonight. _October tenth..._

He could not have little Hana-chan present during this ritual. She was too young to be traumatized like this.

On Sarutobi's orders, Kushina was moved into this cave, protected by a barrier from outsiders and guarded by a handful of ANBU Black Ops. This barrier would keep the Nine-Tailed Fox inside in case it ever did escape the weakened seal. So far, everything was going according to plan, and it was a closely guarded secret between him and his _koishii_ , Hiruzen and his wife who was a trustworthy medical ninja. This had happened three years prior when Hanaru was born, so at the time, they had both been nervous - but not this time.

Although, at the back of their minds, there might be a slim chance that the beast could get out.

It took so many more hours, if less than with Hanaru...but in the end, there was the powerful cry of a newborn.

The tears escaped Minato Namikaze with the joy. "I'm...I'm a father again," he croaked out as the beautiful boy with _his hair,_ cherubic cheeks whiskered faintly, was brought over to be placed beside his exhausted mother.

"Naruto," Kushina breathed out, "we finally meet..."

He remembered the time when his sister first came along, and then she was supposed to have been born earlier this month, so she'd come sooner than expected that the preparations had to be rushed. It was a miracle they got here in time. And then he had no idea that the MOTHER was allowed to see the baby first, which Lady Biwaku scolded him over and nearly struck him for so he would do well to remember. When she took the child away to be cleansed, Kushina had been so exhausted, but the seal had to be reset. The deed was done then, but now...

He didn't get his chance before he heard sharp exclamations, followed by the sounds of bodies falling. Whirling around, Minato was appalled when he saw the source: "LADY BIWAKU!" The woman and her assistant fell dying to the tiled floor - and above them was a man cloaked in black, but his face covered by a swirling mask of orange, the only hole for his right eye showing only depthless, soulless black. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

The mysterious intruder deadpanned. "Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze...step away from the _Jinchuuriki_ , or this child will die after its first minute." Naruto was in his arms, crying.

 _NARUTO!_ He seethed with righteous fury. _How dare you come here, threaten my son and -!_ "Hurry up and step away from her...or do you not care about this little brat...and the other who is not present?" Alarm flared within him at the sight of his newborn son being thrown into the air, a kunai from his enemy unsheathed, and his body threw itself forward, paternal instincts kicking in.

"Minato! NARUTO!" Kushina screamed. The markings of the seal appeared on her body. He was running out of time - and she harshly pointed out why. " _PAPER BOMBS!_ "

The Flying Raijin was his best solution. Within moments, he and Naruto were safely away, and the bombs were dispersed in no time. That masked man forced him to do this, to get away with his child...so he could get to Kushina. _He wants the Nine-Tails._

Minato found himself cradling Naruto and surrounded by the forest not far away from the cave. Several ANBU lay dead in the distance. Whoever this masked demon was, he was exceedingly discreet.

Momentarily, he was distracted by the sight of the glowing flowers in the distance. The _yūgao_ \- or moonflowers - were in bloom, full as the moon above. Opening as soon as the sun set, and closing when it rose for a new day. A few were in pink, but the white was the one to receive attention. _The irony,_ Minato thought as he quickly left the site to bring his boy to safety, knowing there was no time to return for his daughter who was safely in Kakashi Hatake's guidance.

He was going back for his wife.

~o~

 _It's a full moon tonight. The flowers of the name are in bloom._

He sat on the porch of the compound, cradling the precious bundle that was his baby brother in his arms. The light wind picked up, making his hair flutter. The infant whimpered a little as if sensing something was going to happen. Their parents were away for the night, so it was just the two of them. Cradling this joy gave him a sense of peace and stability.

Itachi had a feeling the time was getting close to put the little one down to sleep. He'd just fed and changed him, and rocked him while singing the lullaby their mother sang to them. Now some fresh air on a peaceful moonlit night would do the final trick. Sitting on the rooftop wouldn't be safe if he accidentally dropped his brother. Smiling, the elder brother looked down at the child who began to cry when the wind picked up. It was too cold now, but he was used to it. "Don't worry, Sasuke," he said softly, pressing his lips to the smooth, round forehead. "No matter what happens, your big brother will always protect you."

Just then, the howl picked up viciously. The red bells were going off in his brain. Lifting his head, Itachi in time saw an impact strike him above, and within moments, he was on his feet with Sasuke in his arms, running through the corridors of their home. What was this, a natural disaster? It was too brutal and abrupt to be an earthquake...and they were not at war...

~o~

"Awww, come on, Kakashi!" Gai whined, making the masked man roll his one eye when his back was turned. "You're my lifelong rival! You're not seriously going to let a babysitting job keep you away from us!"

He exhaled sharply. To be seen walking with the heavy little girl that his mentor had left for the night - it was not a sight that you saw of the Copy Ninja every day. But Minato-sensei insisted; his wife needed him because she was going to give birth to their second child. No one else was to know, and Kakashi Hatake had to keep this information to himself. So, he was left with the sweet little girl who made him a little uncomfortable - but she looked up at him with wide, innocent blue eyes, which she inherited from her father.

There was a small warmth inside of him that made him feel even more unsettled. "Gai," he said, half impatient, "I have to watch Hanaru here. I made a promise to Lord Hokage."

The face of his "eternal rival" fell with dismay, before it was cut off when there was a great roar in the distance. It wasn't long after that a massive gust of wind sent them all off their feet - but Kakashi was on all fours, or rather threes, with little Hanaru whimpering and holding onto him around his neck. She blubbered and buried her face into his neck. "'Kashi," she whispered, "what was that?"

He exhaled, the pressure making his mask flare a little. "I don't know..." And the answer came in time with someone's screams.

"IT'S THE NINE-TAILS!"

Kakashi's harsh breath hitched when he looked beyond with everyone else - fellow Shinobi and civilian alike - at the thing ahead in the distance. It was a great beast, an animal of abnormal size... _a fox._ And not just any fox. The creature had nine tails wildly flailing about. No, this was the Nine-Tailed Demon. Which meant that...someone must have extracted the monster from Kushina's seal and set it loose upon the village - HIS village. The mother of this child in his arms was in severe danger, possibly dead, if the beast was removed from her body. _Minato-sensei, please protect the village._ He did not doubt his former mentor, but to go up against the monster crushing homes, stores and tall buildings as well as stomping on any living thing in its path, roaring to the heavens - it would mean he might die tonight.

Which would leave the girl and her newborn brother or sister orphans.

Then the orders of Lord Third Sarutobi came: all ANBU and Shinobi were to go on to the attack against the monster, but handfuls were to stay and protect the civilians. Gai wanted to go out there and aid in the fight with all his "youthful passion", but Kakashi sternly told him they were ordered to stay and protect the citizens...and that included the one who was crying for both her parents. The silver-haired ninja sighed and closed both of his eyes, shaking his head as he continued to carry her as he aided in rounding up the civilians for shelter.

"Mama," Hanaru whimpered, snuggling into him. " _Papa..._ baby brother..."

~o~

 _There was no other choice. He had to do this if it meant their child had to suffer for this._

 _He brought himself, Kushina and Naruto back out into the woods, where the moonlight flora was still glowing. He had before left them at home, but summoning Gamabunta to restrain the Kyuubi was limited compared to the massive amount of power the kitsune fiend possessed. He'd assessed there had been enough damage done to their home._

 _The masked man he fought - the one who manipulated the demon to this mayhem -_

 _The Nine-Tails was not that far away, and soon it would spot them again. He had to hurry. His life would be taken for the sake of his village he loved so much - but it would also be burdened on their children...especially Naruto's. Hanaru was out of the question, not to be cruel, because she was away from this involvement, and her brother was the only one available. He didn't want to do this..._

 _With help from Kushina's chain lock from her back, the demon had been captured and held in place. For now. "Minato," Kushina gasped as she laid their son on the grass. He hadn't cried again despite everything happening around him. Babies were sensory as animals were. "What are you going to do now?"_

 _He sighed sharply. She would hate him for this, and he would gladly take it. "I'm going to need your help, Kushina. We are going to seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto." And as predicted, fury crossed her sweet but strong face._

 _"He's our_ son _\- why would you wish on him such a heavy burden?! If you're doing this for me, and for our daughter, I don't want it! I want nothing to do with it!" she shouted, then flinched and doubled over, coughing up a little more blood. Minato looked down at the ground, but at Naruto specifically. He couldn't answer; he didn't deserve an answer for her, because she already knew it. But if she could survive being a_ Jinchuuriki, _then someone would be there for him and help him love. There was one person they both knew who could do that, if she wasn't here to see all of this._

 _But Hanaru wouldn't be all there was. Naruto needed more to aid him - the BOTH of them would need all the adoration they could get, if one of them was marked for life._

~o~

Blood from Minato and Kushina spattered on a few of the pure white blossoms, which were still in bloom when reinforcements arrived.

The bodies of the Fourth Hokage and his wife lay there - and the infant boy who looked like his father and had been born on this night lay there squirming and crying, displaying the seal visible to Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. The old man looked on in shocked horror at the sight as he realized what had happened...and even more when he saw she was still alive enough to cough out: "...Sarutobi...watch over him...and Hanaru..."

He remembered her little girl, Hanaru, but if the child was not here, then that meant she had been placed in someone's care as he had asked Minato. He would find her when the mess had been cleaned up.

"Kushina," Sarutobi pleaded as he helped her half-sit up, "what is his name?"

"N-Naruto," she whispered, before the last gasp of air escaped her, and she died in his arms.

The whimpers of the baby couldn't bring him out of his momentary shock until one of the ANBU spoke to him that they had to take the bodies away. But this meant that they had a serious price to pay with this child's life - and that meant his way of living. The young girl would one day learn her baby brother had been "sacrificed" for the sake of this village, and both her parents gave their lives to take down the Nine-Tails. It was a burden they would both have to bear. Hiruzen sighed sharply and shook his head as he let Kushina's corpse and her husband's be taken away, and he did the honor of picking up the baby.

Later, he met up with Kakashi Hatake, who in fact had the young Hanaru with him. She looked up at him, with her father's eyes set within her mother's face. He loathed to do this to her. When he told her that her mother and father weren't coming back for her and her brother, she fell back into Kakashi's arms and wailed in heartbreak and grief.

 **In terms of what flowers could be in bloom - as a symbolism and metaphor in one for this story - I decided that this could be the actual Moonflower which exists, but I don't know if Japan actually has them. They indeed blossom as soon as it's dark and then close when the sun rises. They come in colors of pink or white. I even found out they grow in summer, so maybe fate wanted them to continue until Naruto's birthday.**

 **Symbolic meanings of the moonflower: besides glowing like the full moon, it represents the mythical move of the sun and moon, and as a symbol of delicate femininity as well as corresponds to chakra. It can also mean dreams of love.**

 **I'm still crying. :'( Do I have to explain why? Minato and Kushina's sacrifices - in the name of love - for their village and their son, with a daughter now in the picture, are self-explanatory. It was an honor to bring it to life again by my hand.**

 **Review please. :')**


	2. Love of Sisters and Brothers

**Thanks to GreyMoon . Huntress (spaces because it seems this system sees the name similarly to another website) for the review, and in answer to you as well as to anyone, I recommend this story first before you get to "The Winds of Spring" and "Bamboo Woods" - in that order.**

Chapter One

Love of Sisters and Brothers

 _"I'm sorry to tell you, child, that your parents will not be coming back to you."_

She was only three years old, but she could still hear those words like it was yesterday. She remembered only a little at a time since Kakashi protected her and those in the civilian shelter, among the other children who had lost their parents that night. Iruka Umino was one of them; his parents had gone off to fight the fox demon.

Kakashi held onto her when she wailed for her parents and her brother. If she had been older than she was now, she would have taken it much worse and would have cried, begged to know what would become of her future much like the other older children who were equally frightened of the unknown that devastating night.

Hanaru was called Uzumaki, her mother's maiden name, rather than her father's. It was whispered in her childhood, every time she passed by the civilians, that she was "the demon's sister", but nobody thought to lash at her the way she saw them do it to the boy with the same blond hair and blue eyes as she - her little brother who equally didn't know she was really his _aneki_ ; he only saw her as his "strange companion" who looked a little like him. She was approaching eight when she started to pay attention to these things, entered the Academy thanks to Sarutobi-sama, and began to have an idea as to who the odd little boy in the streets was. She remembered her lost little brother the night he was born.

It was AFTER she turned eight years old that the Third Hokage told her the truth, since he had somehow guessed she was catching on quickly. She was always perceptive, he'd said, but with Naruto, it was another story. Not only would he have been told he had an older sister, but he'd learn he had a fox demon sealed inside him. When he was older, he would have to get someone to help him handle the burden...but not only would it be someone of great power and experience with sealing, but someone with a heart as big as his was.

 _He's referring to me._

She wanted to tell him so much, but Sarutobi-sama still forbade her until Naruto was old enough. _If our mother was happy as a_ Jinchuuriki, _how is he going to learn to be when he finds out?_

"I cannot say," the Hokage told her somberly when he called her into his office to inform her that Kakashi would be leaving ANBU so he could be home around her more often, and it was by this time he would try to keep out of the darkness that way and to become a Jounin instructor. He was going to be a teacher. "But when the day comes and he finds out your blood relation, he will have more questions to ask you - but for your own safety, it's best you not tell him you know the identity of your parents." Hanaru wasn't sure if she had always been so frustrated at secrecy, but she was only eight years old then. She would graduate the Academy in a couple more years. This had been around the same time Naruto had been released from the orphanage. He had just turned five. It was cruelty that the people who were supposed to care for homeless children let him go just like that.

At this time, when she would look at herself in the mirror, Hanaru Uzumaki was a miniature version of her mother, Kushina, but with long blonde hair in two pigtails that reached the beginning of her backside, and eyes wide and blue as the sky. Her sweatshirt was royal blue, her dark sweatpants reaching the middle of the calves, finished with sandals like everyone else. She was called cute and bright. She saw it but didn't think too much about it because she heard that when people commented themselves like that, it was called "love in oneself".

She finally met him face-to-face for the first time just around the time she was out of the Academy, which was also when she heard Iruka would be an instructor - and Naruto's homeroom teacher. She didn't know what to think other than wish them both luck. Kakashi knew Iruka well, having been on missions with him, until she'd heard something about Umino-san making a mistake that disqualified him and brought up the soft-seated teaching position. And from what she eavesdropped on, Iruka was hesitant about being Naruto's homeroom guide, but Lord Third had utmost confidence since there was a reason he selected Iruka-san for this...

Hanaru chose to leave before she was spotted, having nothing better to do, and for all she knew, Kakashi was doing what he did best in lazing around and reading his books she was too young to read, but old enough to know it was adult romance and adventure in one. It was then that she nearly ran into HIM on the street. He was on the dirt in no time, and a few passerbys paused to look at the scene. His voice was loud and obnoxious, but he got through to her crystal clear.

"Will you watch where you are going, lady?!"

"Excuse me," she returned, offering her hand to help him stand, then dusted it off on her pants, "but you ought to do the same."

He glared at her, not only with anger, but with frustration and despair. "You're just the same as everyone else," he stated. "After now, you're gonna stay away from me." Those eyes watered then as he tried not to shed the waters of weakness. "Why does everyone treat me like I'm a... _monster?!_ Girl, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I am going to be Hokage someday!"

 _You people of the village, how dare you be so ignorant and treat him like this._ She watched him run off, not knowing at the time Iruka was at a distance when he coincidentally spotted the boy who would be his student. The two of them glimpsed that he was now being forced to wash off graffiti in red paint that he'd left on a building. She didn't bother paying attention to where it was exactly, because Hanaru Uzumaki was too distracted with her emotions over her brother and herself being orphans, but one of them was innocent and unknowing of this - and suffering through this worse than she was.

Hanaru had plenty of free time to watch him when she got her chances. She was one of the rare few Genin to not have a solid team, and had odd times to join as an addition when a squad was short a member. This was what she was known for: her odd moments and lack of a solid group, but she was praised for her near-perfect record. One flaw she was known for: being unable to control her temper when someone provoked her...and that was when she developed a fist technique that would later earn her the title rivaling her mother's...

Living with Kakashi was a free form in itself the older she got. She was a Genin now, and he was also still trying to get a three-man team of his own. He'd been through two of them already, and none passed for these reasons she witnessed: one failed at teamwork, the other with obeying the rules rather than helping a comrade. "Shinobi who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum," he said, a faraway look crossing over his one exposed eye. The other covered by his headband was what she'd learned already was the Sharingan - a legendary _kekkei genkai_ possessed ONLY by the Uchiha clan. Few to none knew this, herself included, but that eye was entrusted to him by a friend who sacrificed his life for his teammates and village during the last great war years ago.

No one ever wanted her brother as a student, and as for herself, she wondered if she was marked in the same way for lack of a real Jounin instructor and a Genin team. Kakashi did show everything he could, and she did make a few friends in that time, only for a certain number to die. Happening before her eyes, she learned this was the true way of the Shinobi when she'd thought she'd known. By this time, she was old enough that Kakashi couldn't give her a warm, loving embrace, but firmly yet gently reminded her that death was inevitable and always lurking every corner.

Otouto... _I wish I could give you a hug when no one is looking. I wish I could see you without blowing everything. You're all I have left of our parents. We have the same guardian, the man who looked out for our best interests._

She watched, from behind the tree outside the gate, him declare he would show those brats who taunted him in class, called him an annoyance, and how he would wipe that smug look off Sasuke Uchiha's face once and for all - and even show Iruka-sensei he was just as good. There were no words to describe how angry she was with his treatment. Eleven years old then, and she was witnessing her brother's humiliation at clone jutsu and shuriken practice. And against a child from the Uchiha clan! She heard those guys were so good, could manipulate chakra, suppress it, you name it.

It made her think of one she knew, but only from a distance.

She gritted her teeth at how annoying it was to listen to those girls praise Sasuke Uchiha and sneer at her brother. She had hormones like them, but already and with a lack of experience with boys, she wanted to give them a piece of her mind. When she voiced her complaints in privacy to Hiruzen-sama, he merely shook his head and waved his hand. "It's not your concern, Hana-chan. Your little brother has his own battles to fight. There will come a time you will help him."

That chance came a few years later when he was just the age she was now.

Often she'd spent watching him - and had seen young Hinata Hyuuga who seemed to have a fondness for him but was too afraid to approach him - practice long hours well into the night his shadow clones as well as how many he could make. Much of the time, it was too much effort and only making one or two clones at best.

Hanaru's time wasn't spent just watching her baby brother. Out of the annoying young girls, Hinata had no interest in the smug, bratty Uchiha; his attitude needed a work on, and she'd be damned she could use a finger or two now. The Hyuuga heiress seemed to be the soft link in her clan which was also as powerful as the Uchiha, but their Byakugan was much more powerful as it could detect chakra presence within the body, assess the anatomy, and at three hundred and sixty degrees spot targets at every corner. Hanaru decided that it had been so long since she had a real friend, and despite the three-year gap, Hinata seemed to like her as well that she sometimes invited her over to meet the family for dinner. Her father Hiashi was a strict man, barely smiled, but he tolerated her enough and hardly wasted his time. It seemed what he cared about was making a strong heir when he was gone. His nephew Neji was out of the question because he was branch, and his youngest daughter Hanabi was quiet and polite, seemed to enjoy connecting with people much more easily than her elder sister. Although when her father's back and ears were out of range, she would open her mouth and make the most improper jokes ever at her age.

It was also around this time she finally encountered the one who later shaped her life in a much different way than her brother had, but that was a story for another time.

In the next few years that passed, not only did Iruka begin treating him like a person, she was finally allowed to see Naruto like a real friend, and he started to like her as well. "Well, Hanaru, do you have a last name or what?" he asked excitedly, to which a blush came over both at his changed opinion about her and also at her failure to think of a proper last name to cover her story, so the white lie that slipped past her lips made his eyes widen.

"Honestly, I don't know my last name. I don't think it matters. Because I lost my parents as well. I never knew them, just like you never knew yours - except you have a last name." She smiled at him, trying to hold back her own tears which he noticed.

"In that case...do you want to be my big sister?"

Hanaru was startled off the bat. He...Naruto just...he didn't pick up, did he? "Why do you ask?" she asked carefully. He laughed loudly, putting his hands over his stomach as if in pain from it.

"Why not? You kinda look like me, you got no parents like me - heck, the old man should let you move in with me so I can have someone else to live with!"

It hadn't been easy to convince the Hokage and Kakashi, but they relented. Her father's student had been the one who raised her whenever he was around, but ninja grew up by the time they were ranked Genin, although not considered full-fledged adult until they were Jounin. In the old days, you were a man or woman if you could throw a weapon with skill and drink when the opportunity presented. If she could be trusted with secrets, then they had to trust her with her decision to make Naruto happy by moving into that dingy apartment of his. If she had enough money, she could have this place renovated to feel like home. "Someday, I'll get us something bigger and better," she promised him, which made him happy and smother her with that hug of his.

From then on, she would make him a healthy breakfast instead of that ramen. Don't get her wrong, she loved it, but nothing to be had ALL the time. But he was happy with the food she made - even more than he made himself. He even no longer had to drink expired milk. And did they fight? Sometimes, over the littlest of things, such as him leaving his dirty laundry over the floor. She even helped him with perfecting his clone jutsu, which she could do herself. Female ninja - the _kunoichi_ \- could exert the best chakra control, that it even exerted the fact there were men amongst their kind who still believed women were NOT for the battlefield, but were background support. That was why there was often a med-nin in a lot of units, in the wars and in peaceful times.

But there was also the problem with his pranks. He pulled them off because he wanted to be recognized. He was sick of being invisible, being abused verbally and physically - and mentally was hidden so well she, his own sister, couldn't read him. He was always smiling, and if that was his way to mask it, she was impressed.

Sometimes she would join him and Iruka at Ichiraku's, that stand run by Teuchi-san and his daughter Ayame having been one of the best and littlest highlights ever. In those moments, it was like nothing was ever wrong. Joy was fleeting, and she'd seen it all, so you take the chance that came without worries or second thoughts.

But then that night which brought her to the present. She was fifteen and Naruto twelve years old. Next year, she would make Jounin, complete with a wardrobe and hairdo change. He had failed his graduation exam that day, which broke her heart after everything they had done together to help him, but he still kept declaring he would one day be Hokage. _Naruto, to become Hokage isn't an easy route._ He was towards the bottom of his class, but that never stopped him. In her time here, she was almost at the top if not _the_ best.

The entire village roared when word got out that the Scroll of Sealing - an ancient text filled with every jutsu not meant for anyone but the most sensitive and extensive - was stolen from Hokage Tower, and _Naruto_ was seen. The village demanded her brother's head, but Sarutobi-sama rebuked and stated that Naruto was still only a child and likely had no idea it was something so sacred and forbidden. Hanaru looked to Iruka, knowing that because they cared so much for him, they would go together. She refused to believe her _otouto_ would do such a thing - and she was proven right.

It was one of their own, Mizuki. He needed that scroll for his master whose name was never revealed then, and in turn revealed everything to Naruto, being one of those who survived that night and knew the truth...and then he let it slip that Hanaru was his _sister._ Her fury exploded a thousandfold at both his trickery in order to gain the scroll which had been specifically hidden away by the First Hokage for no one but his successors to see.

That night, Iruka risked his life to protect his student, and Naruto's fiery rage burst forth with the tiniest hint of the Nine-Tailed Fox inside him, but Hanaru couldn't stand back and let the boys fight the enemy any longer. She was the big sister who was supposed to protect the younger brother, and now was her chance to use her favorite technique by hand when Naruto had Mizuki beaten down with _multiple shadow clones_ \- _gods, Naruto, there is hope for you yet!_ \- and now she would give this bastard the blow of the lifetime if all those Narutos weren't enough for him.

"Uzumaki...BALL BUSTER!" she yelled, striking him exactly what the name gave. The man's most vulnerable spot was never going to be right again after that one blow. If Kushina had lived, she would definitely be proud.

The stars were in Naruto's eyes as he looked upon her in awe. She had never felt so proud of herself as she was of him.

Mizuki was arrested, the scroll returned to its rightful place. Iruka was getting medical treatment at the moment, and she and Naruto were free to go home. Before leaving, Sarutobi somberly wished her luck on telling Naruto the truth now that it was out.

"Why did you never tell me who you were, all this time?" he demanded when they were both back at the apartment.

She sighed and sat down at the kitchen table, and he took his place across the opposite, still watching her the same way he would glare at Sasuke Uchiha. "Naruto, do not hate me," she begged, but he continued to blow up, causing the walls to shake and debris to fall from plaster.

"You had all this time to tell me you were my big sister! I really have grown to see you as that, but it turns out you really were!" His eyes flashed with red flecks. "Did that mean you knew about the Nine-Tailed monster that the Fourth Hokage put inside me?!"

"...yes." She closed herself and braced for whatever impact would come next.

But nothing happened. Hanaru opened her eyes again and looked at him only to see his reaction unchanged. "I see," was all he said. His voice was soft now, but almost like an angry serpent. "But the old man never wanted me to know for what purpose?"

"To protect you," Hanaru said firmly, feeling more like his mother instead of his older sister. "He did the same for me, and he kept us parted for some years before we met for exactly that reason. He was concerned about what would happen if you found out we were brother and sister. I heard some calling me the 'demon's sister', but they were never to come onto me because I had no monster in me."

Naruto slammed both palms flat on the table. "Then why didn't you have this thing inside you instead of me?" he asked hotly.

Hanaru shook her head. "I don't know. And before you say anything, I am not lying. I was three years old at the time you were born, and I wasn't there when any of it happened. I don't even remember who our parents were," she lied, making sure he didn't catch onto that. "I'm telling you the truth about everything. I wanted to tell you all this time; I watched you, hated how everyone treated you - except Iruka-sensei. And Lord Third is keeping this from us in order to protect us." _Someday when you do find out our parents' names, which I am sure you will, then you'll get why no one would know where we both came from._

"Well, I'm tired of being protected. You and I have both been through a lot together. We are great ninja, believe it!" he insisted. "If you got to where you are now, and I am close to taking the old man's place one day, then there's a chance our parents might have been like us, right?" He had no idea how right he was. "And besides, you don't even care I got a stupid fox in here." He lifted his shirt up and tapped onto his belly for emphasis, making her laugh. "We got each other now."

Hanaru let a tear burn her cheek and swallowed a sob as the answer. At the same time, brother and sister stood up and went around the table to embrace each other tightly.

"T-thank you, for being here for me, Hanaru. I'm not alone anymore... _nee-chan._ " He hiccupped. "Don't leave me again. You're like my best friend."

"I won't," she swore ferociously, laughing and sobbing at the same time.

 **So, I wanted this chapter to focus mostly on Hanaru's relationship with her brother, not dive into her and Itachi right away. This story (entire series) is an AU of the events that took place. Plus, not everything will be cluttered at once as we get to learn Hanaru more and her relationships, just like in the anime.**

 **For the longest time, I wondered what to do with Hanaru learning how to be a skilled Shinobi one day, and ultimately I decided to make her unique and believable in marking her a rare case where she had no three-man Genin team or a solid Jounin instructor (except Kakashi, whom her father entrusted her with). Plus Hinata is the first real friend she ever made, and her obvious admiration for Naruto is the first thing that made Hanaru see a potential other.**


	3. Brothers' Bond

**Since last chapter was brother and sister, now it's the Uchiha bros. :D Although this story won't just primarily focus on romantic or even sibling relationships. The things that happen around them help guide their lives along, but then again, it happened to them all in canon.**

Chapter Two

Brothers' Bond

He could still remember the day he was exposed to the savagery of the Third War like it was yesterday. It was a day when stormy clouds parted to allow sunlight to spread over the field littered with hundreds of corpses. Red splashed in areas - _blood._ Silvery hints of lost weapons glittered.

He saw Shinobi killing each other. He couldn't understand what they were fighting about, but he knew what it was the moment his young eyes laid on it: _this is what war looks like._

His father was out here, and on instinct he ran, naïve and worried for the man who protected him and his mother, and his holster strapped to his right thigh. _Otou-san_ made it loud and clear that even civilians and children of Shinobi who hadn't yet been trained could wield these tools in times like this. War was a hellish teacher, but Fugaku had been through fighting his entire life, so he must have been expecting his son to see himself one day.

Young Itachi never even thought much about it until later in life.

He didn't yet see his father, but he had been preoccupied with the rancid smell that made his delicate stomach roll, and the faces of some Uchiha members, a handful others he remembered being good to him and his parents...and even some young people who were still older than he was. He'd never seen anything like this...

"..wa-water..."

Someone rasped out the need for water, and he had it on himself. Itachi turned around to see a man, seeing his headband wasn't Leaf, but a stack of rocks, telling him he was from Earth Land. The boy rushed to his side and opened up his canteen, giving the thirsty, wounded man what he wanted. Little did the child know the man's dazed eyes would land on his thigh holster, identifying what he was.

The shout unexpectedly sent the young boy off his feet, taking him off-guard, before something was placed in his hand. His first instinct was to cut the man's throat as his mind raced, believing he was going to die...until red streaked across his vision and hit the earth at his feet. The Rock Shinobi fell dead, gurgling his last and looking up at the dark skies breaking with a new day. "Father," the boy who killed him managed, not looking up at the one who came to his side just as he'd drawn the weapon which was still stained with the enemy's blood. "Why...why did this man try to kill me? I only tried to help him."

"It still wouldn't matter if you did a good deed for him or not," Fugaku told him grimly, kneeling beside him. "Itachi, this is war, but not a war amongst civilians. It's a bloodbath between _nations_ ; Shinobi from all of them kill each other without reason and a decline in stability..." The boy heard every word, but his body felt like it was on autopilot. He would never forget what he saw. The words continued to echo in his psyche, his own thoughts coming into the mix. His mind had already begun to mature on that one day.

 _This is war...between nations and Shinobi. Innocent people suffer for it._

 _Blood is shed. No rhyme or reason, but chaos and disability._

 _Your own life could be at stake unless you fight back._

Itachi Uchiha was only four years old when his innocence was lost forever.

From then on, when he and his father returned to the mother, who was among the injured but lucky to survive, he found that his life was over before it even began. If this was how life was, then why should anyone be here? How could anyone live like THIS?

An armistice was held, but it wasn't enough for anyone. Not long after, when funeral services were held for the many dead lost, he listened as the man who led them, the Third Hokage - the leader and strongest ninja ever - intended to step down to atone for his failure, with all the casualties he should have prevented. The next Hokage was to be determined at the High Council meeting with the feudal lord. In this time, Itachi found himself asking the questions for the first time.

What was a village? What was a Hokage? But most importantly: what was a _Shinobi_?

He was also desperate to learn what life and death were, if there was meaning to either of them. He felt empty and soulless. The world he'd thought it was had been a lie. There was no peace, or even if there was, then it was never meant to last; you could control it for only as long, and it took a majority and a miracle to fight for it. Once you had it, you continued to fight to keep it.

That day he also saw a man away from the crowd in black. He was pale as a ghost, with long raven hair wild down his back, and he looked distant and sad as he gazed down at two tombstones. _He lost someone he loved, too?_ The boy thought he could be someone to answer one of his questions. "S-sir?" he asked softly, getting the man's attention. "What is the...meaning of life?"

His question seemed to take the man aback before he was composed. "There is none," he said. Itachi was a little startled. _N-none?_ "There is nothing meaningful in life, unlike with death. But if death holds any importance, it is to take advantage of it."

And the name of the man to tell him this was known as Orochimaru, one of the Three Sannin. And the two gravestones he was over were those of his parents. "I lost them when I was not much older than you are now," he said before leaving the boy alone to his thoughts.

 _There's no meaning to life. My worst fears realized. We all live only to fight and survive, to protect other people. Nothing else._

He wasn't sure he wanted to ever live to see another bloodshed like the one he would never forget. And if there was no significance, then there was one thing left for him to do. He stood atop a cliff that was hundreds of feet above the Nakano River.

The fall seemed endless. He felt free, like a bird savoring its freedom in the air, looking down on the lands beneath it...only he was no bird. It was then that the adrenaline kicked in. His rationale lit up, and in a second, he jabbed two of his kunai into the wall to hopefully slow down his fall. He suddenly realized that he didn't _want_ to die. He wanted to live; he knew he had a purpose, and if he was dead, that dream couldn't happen. _Life is precious._ He decided this the moment he found himself kneeling beside the riverbed - and there was a black bird, a raven standing and looking up at him. He was transfixed; an instant connection was made when he looked into the animal's depthless onyx eyes. Eyes like his own. He asked it this even though it would never answer him the way a human would.

"No one wants to die, right?" But if no one wanted to die, then what _was_ life? He would go on in life asking himself over and over the more he was around people, the more he observed and interacted as much as he could.

Itachi Uchiha was never a normal child. He never had real friends - except his distant cousin Shisui who became his mentor and best friend in the clan - no playmates, except elders being genuine to him, others looking down on him because he was the son of the head of the Uchiha clan; therefore, they thought he would always obtain special treatment. But then one day, his life was once more changed - this time, it was for the better. A year after the bloody Third Great War ended, Itachi went with his mother, Mikoto, to the hospital, where she received some news. At first, he thought she was sick...until she held him close and pressed his head against her flattened stomach. "You're going to have a little brother or sister."

He was going to be a big brother. His mother was going to have another baby. He was five, but older internally than he was, except he was still too young to understand biology. Which would later change, again.

All this time, Itachi had a feeling it was going to be a brother, because he couldn't find it in himself to understand women who were not his mother; not even a sister could change that. And on the day of the birth, in the second to last week of July, Mikoto gave birth. And just as the young Uchiha predicted, it was a boy. He had a little brother.

Gazing upon the sweet little face with rough tufts of black hair and rosy cheeks, one of which he poked at out of curiosity, Itachi felt something inside him shift, like a planet changing its rotation. _A life..._

His father already chose the name, as well. Sasuke - his name was Sasuke Uchiha. "Lord Third's father," he said to Itachi, proudly. "I've already asked Lord Third's blessing."

Sasuke became his entire world from then on.

This was when Itachi understood what life was, and how precious it was. How necessary it was to protect. But he also understood that one day life would die, just like those on the battlefield. Everything was a never-ending struggle. Because just like when he killed a man at the tender age of four, he fought back bullies at the Academy. And even one of them would become one of his teammates on Team Two when he made Genin...only to lose him and wake up his Sharingan at age eight.

A pain that his baby brother would eventually experience later in his life.

Itachi took the brunt of everything that controlled his life. He never made decisions on his own. Nothing else was important, as far as he was ever concerned. His spotlight was so bright that he was unable to get away; in the end, he relented if he was to one day be a Shinobi strong enough to prevent another war from breaking out. What he saw that day, he never wanted himself or anyone else to endure...especially his _otouto._ It was Sasuke who became his motivation for the path of the Shinobi. It was not just his father and the clan.

But each day, each burden took its toll. The more his suffering increased, the luckier his brother would become. He would never have to bear the pressure of being the next head of the clan. Itachi's goal was to maintain the peace so Sasuke and others of his generation would never know the horrors of war. The comrades that died before his eyes, behind them, and the demands of the clan and upper hands - the Third Hokage being the only one to not treat him like a lapdog - they were part of the curse of the Uchiha. For the longest time, the Uchiha were discriminated and even blamed for the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox, for without the Sharingan controlling it, it would have run amok. This was all speculation, but it was never proven.

Sasuke remained oblivious of this for the longest time.

Since being driven to the outskirts of the village and placed under supervision by the ANBU Black Ops, the Uchiha began to distrust the governing body of Konoha all the more. However, only a select few Uchiha - himself included - thought to remain hopeful that someday both the village and Uchiha would learn to cooperate again as equals.

Besides living as the double for both his own kin and the Elders of the village he loved so much, Itachi would return home to the little brother who saw him as his shining star and his best friend. When he would come home, instead of doing Academy homework right away, he would postpone it just for Sasuke's sake because the innocent child born after the war - who had dreams and everything his older brother had been deprived of - always waited the entire day for his big brother to spend time with him. But it would always end the same way: his index and middle finger would poke the younger's forehead.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but maybe next time." It would become routine each time it was over, and when it came to his entrance into ANBU, then Sasuke started attending the Academy - everything changed.

Their moments became less and less. As a consequence, Sasuke's acceptance of his excuses of "next time" - which almost never came through - finally reached the point when the boy was eight and he himself thirteen, by that time the youngest captain of ANBU ever.

"You always say that and jab me in the forehead, Itachi - and you never have a 'next time'." The accusation was there, and while he would never let it show, the words hurt Itachi more than any loss in his life. The more time he was away from Sasuke even by the time his _otouto_ became Chuunin, nothing was ever the same between them.

He began to believe that no matter his efforts, Sasuke would never forgive him for any of this.

Itachi Uchiha once asked himself, as a tiny child spoiled by war, what a Shinobi was, and this was the answer: a Shinobi was one who endured no matter what was thrown at him or her. Even when you had to sacrifice personal happiness, turn your cherished bonds into something else entirely.

 **This is AU, although there are elements of canon. The Uchiha never attempted the coup, Shisui is alive, and you don't really need to know the details of how its reversed. What matters is everyone (mostly) is alive and well, and stay tuned for how the story really goes. :D**


	4. The Scars of War

**This story is rated mostly for nudity, anatomical references and discussions on sex. The sequels after this definitely have lemons. Thought I'd give a heads up.**

Chapter Three

The Scars of War

"Uuuugggh." She moaned, reaching over to shut off the alarm which rung her at eight. A hell of a night she had, coming back from the borders with her Genin team and Shisui Uchiha's. There was no limit to the drinking game she would have with the boys, ignoring the complaints of her little trio - notably Hanabi's - and the lady of the game proved to have more balls than any of the men did.

Hanaru Uzumaki wasn't called the Explosive Force for nothing.

Female ninja had the best chakra control and therefore could pack a powerful punch like she did - notably to a man's valuable spot. And on an enemy Shinobi, the damage was usually irreversible, but when it was on a comrade who thought to look at her the wrong way - or even _say_ something remotely close - then they were a red target for the fist that struck fear in the hearts of men. In war, it proved to be the ultimate defense for her, except it could only be applied if you found the right place and time. Hence she would divert the enemy - except those with incredible visual prowess like the Uchiha and Hyuuga - with shadow clones and then hit them at their weakest point when they realize where the real her was, too little too late.

Just what happened with Shisui, the man who was one of the biggest flirts against her: he had to open his mouth and drop the bomb. "Smoking hot bombshell", he said, and that was all it took for her to send him through the wall of the bar - and planned payment of the damages.

Not to mention, Hanabi might use this as another story to talk to anyone close to her. What would her sister think? _Hinata might just laugh and tell her sister that was no way for a child to speak, and to no avail._

If she knew Misaki and Daichu well, they must have hauled her back home to her brother. They still shared an apartment together, because while they could have their own places now, she wanted to wait until she got married to leave Naruto, although she doubted her brother could still take care of himself. He still loved his ramen, so she was the one to keep him on his toes. Unless he decided to ask Hinata to marry him so she could move in with him, or something. But that would also mean going through Hiashi Hyuuga first. She pitied her _otouto._

It was during the Great War barely two years ago that he and Hinata realized that they were in love, when one of them nearly died at the hands of Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, who sought the destruction of the Leaf Village and wanted her brother's Kyuubi. But behind the strings was supposedly Madara Uchiha, the co-founder of the Hidden Leaf - who was really Obito Uchiha, a thought-dead teammate and friend of Kakashi's. He'd gathered nearly all the beasts for the husk of the Ten-Tails, but with the efforts of her brother, herself, Shisui and all their comrades - including a great many casualties - the monstrous war that took lives only to have them revived in the end was triumphed.

The Five Great Nations had gotten together and forged the Allied Shinobi Forces. This was the first time such an event happened, and since then, the alliance remained unbroken.

The Uchiha clan participated and received the acknowledgment they deserved. She remembered her disgust when she heard the history in that the Second Hokage distrusted them from the beginning. But just because their leader spawned bad blood didn't mean the rest would. It was _him_ who put them in the police force, prevented them from being in the governing body, and then in Lord Third's reign - after her father died - they were put on the village outskirts which fueled further distrust.

This had been after the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox - the night her brother was born and she was with Kakashi then. They lost their parents, the heroes who gave their lives for this village.

But then, years after that, the village was attacked during the Chuunin Exams. It was all the doing of Orochimaru.

He killed Sarutobi-sama, the man who looked after her and Naruto. The hatred she felt for that murderous snake had never been so immense. His arms were sealed away in the battle, but he was taken away back to the Akatsuki, the organization he became a part of after abandoning the village. That group was consisted of nothing but nine Shinobi, all listed in the Bingo Book as topmost deviants from separate villages - but it turned out that two of them were from the Hidden Rain Village. Master Jiraiya barely made it back alive, so it was a miracle he survived his injuries and having his arm severed from his body.

That was when the Fourth Great War began, but not before it was discovered that Madara Uchiha - no, _Obito_ Uchiha - was pulling the strings. Just leave it to the Uchiha brothers to handle him while she and her brother Naruto were against Pain, a former student of Jiraiya's from the chaotic, devastating Second Great War.

It was Obito who was behind the Nine-Tails attack all those years ago, thus clearing the present of his clan from the unjust suspicions created by Danzo and the Elders.

The Five Great Nations against a hundred thousand mass-produced White Zetsu - along with an army of reanimated Shinobi, all who were people they knew and loved, even old enemies, and their old wounds were reopened as they were forced to fight them.

Orochimaru controlled the reanimation army, using a forbidden jutsu that had been devised by the Second Hokage himself. It took both Shisui's efforts as well as Itachi's to get him to break the control, and the snake was apprehended...only to break free because his right hand seized the opportunity.

In the end, Obito Uchiha himself was killed by none other than his former friend and teammate, the scar left on Kakashi as it had been on the day he thought his comrade died. Hanaru remembered that look in his eyes while growing up: he'd lost both friends and his own sensei - her father - and now that one was alive, he had to really kill him because this excuse of a butcher wasn't one of the rare, few good Uchiha not possessed by the Curse of Hate, who dreamed of being Hokage just like her baby brother.

The Akatsuki's goal was to create the Infinite Tsukuyomi using the revived Ten-Tails, trapping all in a powerful _genjutsu_ and controlling their deepest desires as seen fit. But it was all Madara's will. The ancient Uchiha had been alive long enough to recuperate and live off on Hashirama Senju's chakra cells - which had somehow been ensnared just before his death - but the real details were closed off and kept between the Uchiha clan, because what their former patriarch possessed was part of their secrets that the rest of the world couldn't know...but in private, when the fighting was over, Itachi pulled her over and told her that he found out Madara himself survived by using the Izanagi, a visual jutsu known to recreate a new ending of the battle if you weren't satisfied with the outcome - but it also came with "the other half" called Izanami, which decided fate. Both in exchange for losing the light in one's eyes.

Madara Uchiha lost sight in his right eye when he switched himself with a replica, getting away - along with a piece of Hashirama's flesh which he'd bitten off himself to help prolong his life. However, later and at the end of his life, the cells finally took effect...and that was when the Rinnegan, which Nagato/Pain also possessed himself, awoke and gave him the power of a god.

It was here that Madara manufactured all those White Zetsus, which were somewhat living clones of the First Hokage. He was the one to then put the Rinnegan into Nagato without him knowing. The plan was to resurrect him from death so he would complete the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but then Obito came along when he was thought to be dead. He manipulated Kakashi's friend and teammate...and the death of Rin drove him over the edge as it did to the man who took care of Hanaru after her parents' deaths.

Itachi found all of this out with Shisui beside him, extracting this from Obito before he died. This man, the one she watched from afar for years, acknowledged her and trusted her with a dark, vital secret of his bloodline because she deserved to know more than anyone else.

Many of the Akatsuki were dead, but a few remaining. Among were Pain - or Nagato - but Konan who remained disbanded Akatsuki so she could return to the Hidden Rain Village, though it seemed the rest of the members chose to head out and settle on what they did best. Even when the war was over and peace obtained, the Akatsuki including Orochimaru were still wanted.

Hanaru and Naruto Uzumaki, the Uchiha brothers and Shisui, were named the big heroes, and the five nations all settled down with much of their differences resolved.

The Uchiha had lost their homes like much of the village, but the rebuilding prompted them to move back and away from the outskirts since trust was beginning to take place. The police force itself was allowed to have more people besides one clan.

Tsunade retired from being Hokage to full-time head the hospital, and Sakura joined her, having become renowned herself by waking up her Hundred Healings Mark and killing Sasori of the Akatsuki - and had finally gotten Sasuke Uchiha to stop calling her annoying. _Fan girl twenty-four seven becomes best friend like Naruto._ Except he and her brother still went at it with their _teme_ and _dobe_ banters, with less malicious intent. Although Hanaru could tolerate the little Uchiha with one limit at a time.

Master Jiraiya was still doing what he did best, although he settled down from traveling the world and carried on with his "pervy books", as her brother would often tell her, and that was one of the many things they shared laughs over in private.

Sasuke finally joined the Hidden Leaf Police Force, but sometimes he would head out to the borders.

Kakashi was the Sixth Hokage. He was a good one, although besides the establishment of the Uchiha taking part in the governing body aside from weaving out criminals, the system didn't change much.

Naruto - he was working on his studies along with Sasuke and Sakura to become Jounin, just like his big sister was.

In short, life was busy and well. Although it would be a lie to say that the scars of war were gone. Many lives lost, others restored, because war meant hell. _Which was what_ he _endured_...

And by he, she meant the one on her mind whom she wasn't sure she would see today. Her Genin might be in the training grounds, or just simply hanging out and enjoying themselves. She was going to do whatever she wanted, in other words, and her brother might be busy with his studies. Oh, poor Naruto when he came home that day with all those books! Hanaru laughed to herself as she stretched herself that present morning, then kicked off the bed covers to stand up. The summery slip she wore matched her skin tone and fitted her body while flowing loosely around her thighs. She pulled it over her head, and then she found herself staring at a body she wasn't obsessed with but was aware of. Her breasts were full enough to probably fill a man's largest hand, peaked with a shade of pink like her lips, and her hips slimmed down, stomach flat.

Her body was soon covered by a dark blue tank with a soft plunge, black shorts that ended mid-thigh, and both were over fishnet that stopped at her elbows and knees, finished with traditional Shinobi sandals. And her headband was made as a belt around her waist, the plate fitted in the middle of her hips.

Her hair was yellow-gold, like her brother and their late father whom he found out about during the war. It used to be long to reach her waist, in two pigtails, but that day she became Jounin, she decided she needed a new look. She remembered taking the kunai before her mirror in the privacy of this room and just hacking it to her shoulders' length; she also had tomato red streaks starting from the roots and throughout, to honor her mother. At first, it had been terrifying, because change always was for a normal person - but not for her, a Shinobi established as a late teenager.

And it was in time for the Fourth Great War to be declared when the phony Madara Uchiha demanded Naruto and Killer Bee from the Cloud Village.

Her door was racked on, making her jump out of her thoughts. "Hey, _nee-chan,_ that's ME who is supposed to sleep late!" She snorted and walked over to open her closed bedroom door to show her baby brother, all grown up and on his way to being Jounin like her.

"Don't think about that, Naruto. I was up long before you nearly broke my door in half."

"Hey!" he exclaimed, jumping back by an inch, eyes bulging like big bugs'. "I didn't even hit it too hard! And by the way -" he added, calming down at once. "- something came for you just now."

Hanaru raised an eyebrow and followed him out of the hallway and into the kitchen where a huge silver vase was placed in the middle of the table, filled with roses of snowy white and creamy vanilla as well as fluffy smaller white blossoms. It was so sweet and charming, but who -? "Just read the card and see for yourself," Naruto snickered, pushing her forward so she could spot the card sticking out at the top. She picked it up and read it, bursting out laughing when she was done.

 _Hanaru-sensei, hope you don't wake up a ghost! Shisui-san is still nursing his wounded pride. - From, us three_

By "us three", that meant her Genin who would be Chuunin by the next year. How time flew and they grew up so fast. And here they were, gathered as one and making fun of her in one of her most hilarious moments. Yes, she was aware of it rather well. And as for poor Shisui - she could imagine who he might be telling in his clan at the very moment. She just hoped it didn't affect how the rest of them thought of her, but then again, she wondered about a certain handsome Uchiha himself.

It had been a good while since the war ended, but even barely two years made what she was internally struggling with herself for him ever growing stronger to the point where she wondered if it was even possible. Her brother was seeing Hinata Hyuuga, her best friend who had loved him from a distance even before the village was thrust into the chaos. Hinata got more confidence since admitting her love in the danger - as a somewhat heat of the moment, but at the same time, she mustered her courage because it could have been her last chance to give Naruto her heart.

"I could enjoy teaching Genin one day if Kakashi-sensei -" Even his teacher as current village leader didn't make him remember his propriety just yet. "- gives me a chance to teach as a Jounin!"

Hanaru chuckled and pocketed the card from her students in the back of her shorts. "But that means training first, _otouto,_ " she reminded him. His face fell and he groaned a little.

"Unfortunately. All those books are a problem - but no matter, because I prefer being out there!" he declared, slapping his fist into his palm. She went about getting them both a glass of milk. She had a plan to head out there and get breakfast from one of the little shops today. The Leaf Village was growing with its new buildings and more technology to come in years, but little by little. Even the oldest and littlest of eat-out, retail and such were still being welcomed. Today was a good day for some shopping, but she wasn't an addict on it.

"What are your plans today, Hanaru?" Naruto asked her as they sat down, by then waiting for his first bowl of ramen to boil. Today she was letting it slide because today might be a good day...

"Just some shopping. Maybe I'll run into someone..."

"Well, before you do, I got you something that I knew was you, but Temari helped me." Frowning a little, Hanaru turned and saw a small black box held in front of her. Her brother got her jewelry. He beamed ear to ear as he opened it up. Inside were lustrous pearls dangling from delicate leaves of gold. Her brother had gotten her a pair of earrings.

Hanaru pushed her hair behind her ears and relished the small weight of them in her lobes. They were simple and very rich in one. "I'd offer Temari my thanks if I could," she said, speaking of the sister of the former _Jinchuuriki_ of the One-Tail, Gaara. Who was the Fifth and youngest Kazekage - and a friend of Naruto because her brother saved him from the darkness that was his life, which involved his own father ordering the many attempts on his life because of his uncontrolled power and the monster sealed in him before he was born. Which resulted in his mother's death.

She personally hated anyone who dared to hurt her brother, so she developed the same feelings for Gaara. But if Naruto hadn't gotten through to him, she would have hated him for his actions - one of them being crippling Rock Lee during the Chuunin Exams.

Him becoming Kazekage after earning the trust of his people and the soldiers beneath him showed that Naruto could make it to that seat of his own village one day.

"Well, I'm out of here now. See you later." She gave her brother a kiss on the forehead and him her on the cheek before they were both leaving their apartment to go their separate ways for the day.

~o~

Sasuke was still gone, on the border patrol, as part of his means to get into the Jounin ranks. His brother was ever still reckless; he by now accepted that it wouldn't change. Their parents still worried over him, but it was Fugaku who said "that boy won't grow up until he has a girl to keep him on the ground, when all other options fail." And it was then that he had to remind his heir, himself, that he should do the same someday soon, since all other means had been accomplished.

The Uchiha were scattered about rather than just sticking in one area since the war ended. He, his parents and Sasuke moved to the lake side like before, but closer to the water and near the village perimeters. This took Itachi Uchiha back to the memories of their childhood: when he would return home from weeks at a time, sometimes months, his little brother would run up to him, beg him to train with him, and often he would not keep his promises - but it was not because he didn't want to. Nevertheless, Sasuke was disappointed.

Since becoming Genin and then Chuunin, his younger brother no longer asked for him, but always went with Naruto. Things had changed. _He hates me for never keeping my promises._

Itachi missed his brother, but never let anyone see it.

Their relationship somewhat improved when they won the war, Madara/Obito Uchiha dead, and the Akatsuki threat scattered but quiet for now...except Orochimaru was still out there doing what he was best known for. His part in the war was pulling the strings of the reanimated puppets, which was a vile and repulsive action in itself. The dead were disrespected and manipulated against those who were their friends, loved ones and comrades. He and Shisui got the reincarnated dead freed with their combined efforts while they left the main ringleader to Kakashi - an eye for an eye, you could say, but because this was his thought-dead teammate and friend, it was an even greater scar.

Pain, the supposed leader who was also "Madara's" puppet, unleashed his furious power and destroyed the village, killing many, and that was the start of the Fourth War besides the refusal to give up the Eight and Nine-Tails, from Cloud and Leaf. All five nations came as one under this dire decision. And all his life, Itachi Uchiha feared another world war would break out, as did Shisui, but this was far greater than the coup their own clan plotted so many years ago.

But the Uchiha became a part of it instead of being kept out of the fighting. Because Lady Hokage wished it. She saw this as a chance for Senju and Uchiha to ally together, having been aware of the discrimination that her great-uncle had begun when his elder brother passed on. They were all together against a common enemy.

Finally, enemies became allies on all sides.

Except the Akatsuki against all of them. That left one outcast.

The horrors were far more extensive compared to the past, because not only did this involve the revived dead and clone-derived plants from the First Hokage's cells, but the mastermind was someone who was once close to the man who was now the current Hokage.

He, Shisui and his brother, as well as Naruto Uzumaki and his sister were the ones hailed for saving their village and the entire world. He didn't like the public attention on himself, but Naruto had to persist him to feel proud of himself. He deserved it as much as the rest of them. _A true Shinobi doesn't set out to seek glory, but to protect from the shadows._

He joined ANBU because his father and the clan needed a spy on the higher-ups, but even after the fighting was over, he remained in the Black Ops. The Uchiha started being trusted after years of contempt, but it was what eventually became a part of him. He could get out anytime he wanted now, but he wasn't sure what he would do afterwards with his life. Lord Sixth could allow him to be an instructor at the Academy; he would have no problem teaching. But at the end of the day, Itachi preferred being outside, protecting his village out of eyesight and under anonymity.

That also meant Shisui could do whatever he wanted now that the Uchiha stopped their plotting - and one of them being drinking games after returning from patrolling, and a Genin team as well as their sensei was with them. His cousin came back holding onto his aching groin and tipsy as much. Shaking his head, Itachi hauled him into the house by the lake and let him pass out on the couch, but not before he left the trash can beside him as well as medicine and water on the table. By morning, he was awake enough to suffer a migraine and then he replayed the events of the previous night...in which he dropped the bomb on one Hanaru Uzumaki which earned him a blow to the place a man prized.

His cousin had been subjected to the terror that was the Explosive Force. Itachi had never seen or known anyone like Naruto's elder sister who contributed to the victory of the Fourth Great War, with her powerful fist and her opened wisdom. And though she was a woman, he was reminded of himself when she ferociously protected her younger brother and their village.

Though he couldn't lower his guard, he saw her as glorious and capable. But when the bloodshed came to an end, they started to be on missions, though not as often as she would be with Shisui's team and her Genin - one of the girls being Hanabi Hyuuga. Because he kept his mask over his face, she never knew who he was. Therefore, never small talk except when he and his unit came to her aid, and any chat focused solely on the mission.

He left Shisui at the house, where his mother was still home while his father was at the police station. He made his way down the streets that day, hungry for dumplings, and what could his mother do now instead of scolding him for spoiling his appetite before breakfast? He'd already had a rice ball anyway. But little did he know as soon as he was walking the streets which involved happy chatter, Shinobi laughing on duty and openly, a few young couples on each other's arms...

The Explosive Force herself was across the street as soon as he reached the tea shop. But she didn't sense his presence - or was she too distracted by her activities in the jewelry shop to even know?

"Itachi-san, it's so good to see you!" the kind, elderly woman told him as she watched him come in. He nodded, turning halfway to smile slightly at her. "Wait here while I prepare the usual for you!"

Itachi said nothing, finding himself frozen in place as he continued to watch her from his seated place in the tea shop. He watched her pick out a ring band of rose and little crystals that twinkled in the sunlight, placing it around her middle finger to experiment...and the blinking light as well as that delicate but powerful hand made him partially blind if his Sharingan activated for the close-up didn't.

It was then and there that - at the same time she was leaving with her new jewel around that same finger and picking up the few bags with her - her bright blue eyes met with his activated red ones.


	5. Sweet Encounter

**I just finished "His Chosen Bride", so now comes the next bit. :D Enjoy after the wait.**

Chapter Four

Sweet Encounter

No woman made him hold his position the way she did. It seemed she was thinking the same as she remained standing in her place, on the other side of the street, with her shopping bags in hand - but then she started walking his way with a slight smile on her face.

Itachi felt the faintest one tug a corner of his mouth.

However, when she stopped at his table, she just stood there, looking down at him with a smile akin to shyness. "Hello, Uchiha-san," she said, letting her shopping bags down, the number being three, and all of them appeared to be groceries instead of what girls were prone for, and that was shopping for clothes. It was just like Shisui said: _"You can't stop a woman from shopping."_ He suppressed a chuckle; even after war, his emotions were concealed from the outside. There was no telling when the next conflict could happen. Perhaps when he himself was thirty or during that decade. He would gladly spend the rest of his days obtaining peace for this village he loved - and the sight of the people around him made him smile. The ones who were never involved in the bloodshed.

He found himself wondering why he never noticed her long before the war. She was fair-haired like her father, the Fourth Hokage, and her brother, but resembled her mother and even bore her ferocious temper. Itachi remembered Kushina from when he was a young boy, before the night of the Kyuubi attack. However, years later when the truth came to light, he learned that she had temporarily been cared for by Kakashi Hatake, sometimes by the Third Hokage, and never had been in a Genin team. She was what you would call a special case. In a way, the Uchiha envied her. You never heard of a _kunoichi_ or a Shinobi in general being in her shoes.

"Uzumaki-san," he replied.

"It's not every day I see the great Itachi Uchiha out here like a normal person - but then again, everyone sometimes has the chance, right?" she asked, clasping her hands in front of her like she was being surveyed by an Academy instructor. He felt a brow quirk slightly. She was rambling, and he could see it right through her. It was nothing he was not familiar with. He got that from girls all his life. However, she might as well be holding back, which baffled him slightly. They fought alongside during the Fourth Great War, but afterwards, every time he saw her, every time they ran into each other at odd times, they never seemed to have a full conversation like her brother, his brother and their friends.

Hanaru cleared her throat. "Erm...how is your cousin doing? It's been just a night, and I doubt he's recovered quickly from the..." She stopped there, giggling a little, her cheeks turning dark pink.

Itachi chuckled. "You are right; he is injured, but not as terribly as the double you gave Kinkaku and Ginkaku during the war," he told her. The memory of the surprise on the reanimated duo who killed the Second Hokage was vividly fresh, surpassing even when she delivered to the revived Zabuza Momochi before he was sealed away.

She burst into laughter, leaning over halfway and clutching at her stomach as if mildly in pain. "He had it coming for calling me a 'smoking hot bombshell'. You should have seen the looks on my students' faces." _I can only imagine, Uzumaki-san - Hanaru._ He looked over his shoulder when the old lady brought over his dish of the tri-colored _bocchan._ When her attention fell to Hanaru, her smile was still in place, and it broadened when the girl requested the green tea _chadango_ to go. "I got a feast for me and Naruto tonight. He's more than earned something like this while he's trying for Jounin," she said with a broad smile, sitting down across the table from him.

"And he's done extremely well," he agreed, picking up a stick of his sweets, bringing it to his mouth. However, he remembered his manners and halted before he even took a bite of the first ball. "Forgive me, would you like to have one while you wait?"

"Oh, no thank you. That is all yours. I'd rather wait for mine."

Itachi glimpsed over the table and saw onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, instant ramen, and several vegetables in the paper bags. "What feast exactly?" he inquired, although he took a guess before she answered.

"Miso, grilled vegetables, and salmon," she replied heartily. Her pleasant demeanor made him feel somewhat lighter than his favorite dessert ever would - why did it startle him, or did it not? "And if you wanted me to cook a meal for you sometime -" And then she stopped, eyes bulging as if in horror at saying something she never should have. But Itachi could hardly believe what he heard himself.

Hanaru Uzumaki, elder sister of Naruto and one of the most powerful Shinobi he'd known, had offered to _cook_ for him!

Except it seemed she couldn't believe what she said either. "Oh, never mind, Uchiha-san," she said, her cheek color getting darker and darker to the point where he predicted she would pass out. This situation was starting to amuse him. It was hilarious to see the Explosive Force become flustered just because she was around him in the tea shop of all places in times of peace. But this side of her, in contrast to the savage monster whose fist was opposite of her sublime appearance, was infinitely pleasant. The shoulder-length sunlit hair streaked with ruby red, her wide sapphire eyes, the pale face with a tint of rose in the cheeks and lips, the fox-like whiskers her brother bore because of the Kyuubi chakra... _the definite image of beauty_ and _beast._

Itachi Uchiha never knew when he started to notice such things, even though he observed people's behaviors his entire life. It was her actions he saw the first time, knowing she was the daughter of the Fourth, sister of one of the Leaf's heroes - and being one herself, next to him, Shisui and Sasuke - and who helped her brother stop Pain. But that information was far too shallow. He wanted _more_ \- but that posed several problems. Shisui said that women expected too much. "Oh, they can do so much, and there are two types in the world, Itachi," he'd said. "The ones with balls and those without. Goes without saying. Old days had them confined to the house, but now they fight against the remaining old timers who cling to the ancient ways. But damn -" He'd whistled and looked off at the one in the distance - the one mentioned. "- Kushina Uzumaki's daughter exceeds her mother."

And both Uchiha saw with their own two eyes when a pervert tried to come onto her. _All fear the woman who followed Mother's late dearest friend._ This was one of the many times he laughed with Shisui, when it was just the two of them.

And this ball-shattering woman had just turned red as the tomatoes in her grocery bag. If this kept up, she would end up a boiled vegetable, literally. Itachi cleared his throat just as the green tea for both of them was being served. "Hanaru-san, please take it easy," he chided gently. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'd be honored to...share a meal with you at anytime you see fit." The words left his mouth as quickly as the thought came to strike him in the face. But for some reason, he wasn't ashamed or afraid as another man or boy would be.

He had just said YES to Hanaru's dinner offer, even if she may have said it by accident and was wrestling with herself over her foolishness. He watched as she accepted the cup of green tea, thanking him with just a nod, downing it in three gulps which made him hold back another laugh.

"How about in two days?" she blurted out, the redness of her skin seething.

"Five," he corrected. "Because I leave tomorrow morning for a patrol. I should be back the day before."

She nodded. "No hint as to why."

"ANBU are not allowed to discuss," he reminded her. Hanaru said nothing to that, knowing full well, but the sight of her dango to go ended the conversation here and now. She stood up and took the pink box from the elder, thanking her, then looked back down at him.

"Well, thanks for the company, and I look forward to...Saturday night." It must sound odd to her, because to his knowledge, she had small experiences with men, or maybe none. This struck him as odd, because she was obviously physically attractive, but her fist must have kept them all at bay. But Itachi was not afraid of her in the slightest.

By her body language, she wanted to get away from him as much as possible. _She wants to flee before she says and does something else she will regret._ And in studying her body, he found himself...entranced. Bewitched. In a heartbeat. But he was no savage. He didn't want to be drawn to her simply because of her physical form.

He wouldn't be surprised if her younger brother learned of this and would bombard him with the "take care of my sister" lecture as well as the death threats if he broke her heart at least once. It was then that Itachi remembered that they didn't settle _where_ they would have dinner. "Before you go," he said as she was working to pick up her groceries, which he doubted she would do alone now, "we didn't decide where this will take place." He didn't expect her to answer so easily - and so uncertainly.

"Me and Naruto's apartment."

The last place he expected, but then again, it was better than the Uchiha place. He didn't want his parents - namely Fugaku - to start asking him questions. And he could use Shisui's advice as soon as he was out of here. He didn't know much about wooing a woman, but Hanaru Uzumaki wasn't just any woman.

"Let me help you with that," he offered, picking up the last two bags that felt heavier than the last, assuming the fish was at the bottom of one.

~o~

What a morning! Groceries, a new ring just because she saw it and fell in love that she HAD to have it, then green tea dumplings...all culminating in running into Itachi Uchiha in the tea shop across from the jewelry stand. No, correction: she chose to go to him against her better judgment.

She thought she would run into her Genin team, whatever they were doing at this time if they weren't training - Hanabi probably wouldn't want to since she bragged her Byakugan was "just as perceptive as any grownup's!" - and she just hoped Misaki and Daichu weren't trying to kill each other. Although teamwork was improving, at their age, their goals were still set in stone, but sometimes as you grew up, things changed. But all in all, she was honored to have them under her wing. They were hers to protect just as her brother, his friends, their comrades, the village - _and Itachi_ \- were to her. It was that intense love and respect that helped them win the war. Just like Kakashi told her that had also been the words of Might Gai's father: _"True victory isn't about winning against someone strong, but how much they mean to you."_

Which she told to Hanabi, Daichu and his adopted sister the very first day. And had been told by the very same man who had been mentored by her father. The man who learned the hard way about abandoning your comrades and following the rules.

Hanaru would never forget the day Hinata's baby sister told her that despite their history, she would still make it challenging for her, but the Uzumaki enjoyed challenges. Except for a certain little loudmouth who sometimes thought that she could do something by herself. What was going to happen when she and her teammates made Chuunin? Was Hanabi going to continue this behavior and go solo by the time she was Jounin? In the future surrounded by comrades?

Hinata tried to assure her that her _imouto_ was only going through a phase, because they all did at that age, which the blonde woman was forced to agree. And speaking of Hinata, she could speak to her friend - _Naruto's girlfriend_ \- about Saturday night. Hinata would never go around gossiping about her "date". The word sounded exciting but also nerve-wracking. To fight alongside the indomitable Itachi Uchiha was an honor, and to be praised by him even more. But this...

"Itachi Uchiha," Hinata said that afternoon, when Naruto hadn't come home, and the two women were having tea at the apartment. The Hyuuga held her breath for a second before releasing it. "I suppose a girl would usually say she's been excited for you for the longest time. Anyone would fall forward, swim in her own drool to get to him..." Hinata stopped there, her cheeks turning dark pink. "Sorry, Hana-chan."

Hanaru laughed. "It's nothing. Actually, _I_ should feel embarrassed. But Saturday night - we agreed we'd have dinner here, and I'll be cooking." _But that also means I have to get Naruto out of the house. And I have five days to be ready._

"You know what to make? What to wear? What to talk about?"

She did have a dress that was reserved for special occasions, but never a REAL date, because no guys but one existed on her mind. Others were too scared to ask her out or at least wanted one thing. And the dish envisioned was simple but perfect. And all in all: everything had to be perfect. The house wasn't an issue, since she cleaned it out regularly when her brother would sometimes leave his messes on the floor, a habit he was still working on. To this day, she still said he needed a woman to take care of him if not herself. Big sister couldn't be there forever.

But as for potential conversation...that was what she was most worried about. She didn't know much about him besides his love of dango, and the information which was his Academy, Chuunin and ANBU records. It wasn't enough.

They were in her room, going through her closet until they found her preferred dress for the weekend night to come. It was a dark blue slip, covered with vivid burnout roses, and trimmed with velvet at the square neck and knee-length skirt. It was a great choice, it wasn't over-the-top, and it was the only one she owned. But would Uchiha notice something more, since he could read people all that well? She didn't want to rush anything, but at the same time, she wanted to know if he was that interested in her after all this time. After all those years before the war in which he never noticed her while she observed him from afar, fearful of his rejection just like he must have turned down other girls.

Hinata noticed her uneasiness and smiled, trying to reassure her. "Watching worked for me," she said simply.

 _Naruto, if you feel ready in the future, I say you should ask her to marry you and live happily ever after. I see it working out for you._ Usually a sister would be protective - and if said sister had a best friend and knew what kind of guy her brother was, but Naruto was a good man. Yes, she said man, because no longer was he the boy who hyped and called out for attention, pulled pranks to get people to look at him, and burst into tears behind closed doors at the mistreatment of the villagers and elder Shinobi, except Lord Third, Iruka and Kakashi.

Later that evening, when she did cook up what she promised, she dropped it on Naruto that she had a date Saturday night - and with Itachi Uchiha. Brother and sister never once lied to each other about anything. His reaction was just what she imagined.

" _Teme's_ older brother - did he ask you or did you?" The glint and narrowed eyes didn't faze her.

"No idea. Just that today we ran into each other, and we happened to strike conversation. I may have accidentally slipped I would love to cook dinner for him sometime. We suggested Saturday night this week - and here at our home."

Naruto's eyes bulged. "H-here? _Nee-chan,_ you can't be serious!" he exclaimed, almost choking on the vegetables in his mouth. "Sure, the guy's powerful and all, but are you that fixated on him because of his looks and prowess? He might admire you in almost the same way, but he's so icy, like the rest of the Uchiha - except Mikoto-san," he added of Sasuke and Itachi's mother, whom she did meet and liked, although she wasn't sure she would say the same of her husband Fugaku. The guy was a stickler, which went without saying.

And what he said about cold and cool, he was right, but today Itachi was treating her like a person - so did she really have yet to see the real him? She had to wait and see until Saturday, as a start, and if that went well, who knew about the days afterwards.

"Just, promise me you'll be careful, big sis," Naruto urged from across the table. "If he so much as treats you like you're a female dog, then he's gonna face ten shadow clones and the Uzumaki Barrage, finished with my Rasengan." _Little brother, you're still quick as ever to jump into a fight over the littlest of things._

Besides him and Hinata, no one else knew, not even her students. She was grateful for that, but she couldn't help but worry that it could get out, and people would label it the "talk of the century". There were no possibilities despite the obvious attraction she had for the cool, collected and powerful heir to the Uchiha clan, one of the Leaf's revered saviors in the last great war. For the next few days, she brainstormed how to set up the table, even though it was also blaring before her eyes. The flowers Hanabi, Misaki and Daichu left her were still fresh, because she often put them in the fridge to keep cool, and it was a habit of hers. She made the decision now to put the cream and white roses in because of Saturday night; she didn't feel like going out to waste money on a new bouquet, and this one meant a lot to her due to reasons.

When the night came, she took out the candlesticks that were given to her as a gift, having once been Lord Third's wife's before she was killed the night her brother was born and the fox demon ran amok. They were made of brass and evoked the majesty of wildflowers, placed on either side of the floral arrangement that was still fresh after all this time because of her caring for it. Outside the tall sticks were smaller votives she just fell in love with at first sight, made of earthy rock in warm hues, whereas their interiors were fiery mercury gold.

Thankfully, Naruto was out tonight, having a boys' night with Sasuke, Shikamaru and the others. She was in her dress, in the kitchen, and making sure the fish and vegetables in the oven, grilled to perfection, were all set and ready. The miso was in the microwave, the rice balls in the fridge, and the strawberry and vanilla _mochi_ ice cream pieces were in the freezer. The doorbell rang then and there, and Hanaru just about bolted to the door, throwing it open and exclaiming in spite of herself. _Great, I just made a fool of myself._

There stood Itachi Uchiha in all his glory. His long, glossy raven hair tied back as always, but he was also in a tight-fitted red shirt that showed off his muscles, the neckline low enough to show sculpted pectorals, and that three-ringed necklace shining at his throat. But the tear troughs that defined his ethereal masculinity, and his eyes which were just as shiny as his locks...depthless and swirling with mystery...holding you in place...

She just about fainted into his arms, her head spinning and her hair over his arm like a small, gold-and-red waterfall.

 **Besides Itachi and Hanaru's relationship to bud, there comes later trouble after this. But right now, OMG she fainted! XD**


	6. Food For Your Thought

**I don't feel like the story is being rushed at all, especially with Itachi and Hanaru's growing relationship. They fought together in the war, it's clear they admire each other, but relationships are delicate - at least in my experience. Sad fact is I am no longer with that guy, but we're still best friends. I'd rather not go into the details on the breakup. Plus I'm happily single at the moment - but what good is fics and easy life without someone to share it with?**

 **Anyhoo, enjoy the eventual couple's first dinner. :D**

Chapter Five

Food For Your Thought

 _"How are you doing, Shisui?" he asked when he strolled into the living room, seeing his cousin reclining on the lounge, cup of tea in hand. He chuckled and sat on the other end._

 _Shisui swallowed the last of it and exhaled as if having gotten out of the onsen. "I've been better, but thanks to your mom's special here -" He held up the now-empty cup. "- my monster migraine is going down. Although I wish I could say the same for the little guy here." He reached down with his free hand to motion over his still-aching crotch, and he did NOT mean in the sense of mating call._

 _"I suppose that's what you get for pointing out one of her most revered qualities, in front of the other guys and her students."_

 _"Hey, that's not very supportive!" Shisui exclaimed, lower lip stuck out in a pout. "I had my balls crushed when all I did was compliment her!" Itachi snorted and waved it off, standing. He wasn't going to ask Shisui for help in this state. When his head was clearer, and when his mother - whose presence he felt in the kitchen - was absent, he would get his cousin to talk._

 _"You were drunk, and so was she, but she must have had more sense and awareness than you," he stated, turning to head into the kitchen where he saw his mother washing out dishes. Hearing his footsteps, she turned halfway and gave a little smile before getting serious. Here it went..._

 _"You went out again without breakfast, but then again, you're not a child anymore," Mikoto noted._

 _Itachi walked over to help her out; it was the least he could do just for her. "I never was, remember, Mother?" he told her, picking up the towel and a plate. "And I apologize for this." But she laughed and gently patted his shoulder, ever loving and understanding. "Sasuke is not here, is he?" It no longer surprised him that_ otouto _wouldn't be home, not greeting his older brother like he used to. Some days he would go avoiding Itachi altogether. He would often be away with his friends. Mikoto's sad sigh was the answer._

 _"As for you, I was wondering if you found a girl yet, sweetheart. After all, all these years, the war, I'd have hoped you'd want to settle down. I'd have assumed you were out again, ran into a lady..." Her eyes twinkled. He suppressed a roll of the eyes, shaking his head, but in his mind, she couldn't have been more correct - and as always, a mother knew better. "Oh, I see! You have! What's her name?" she asked excitedly. Now he could flinch at the fact he didn't hide it well enough, even from his own mother._

 _"It's nothing to be too excited over,_ Okaa-san. _We simply had a talk in the tea shop, that was all. It was a certain Uzumaki."_

 _"Hanaru! Yes, I was wondering about her. I think you two would make an adorable couple. I hardly see her much anymore, and she still reminds me so much of Kushina..."_

 _Itachi said nothing to that, but he knew she was right. "I am still firm when I say don't have your hopes too high. She's feared by all men, and they safely eye her from a distance. I don't see anything possible between her and I." Except for some reason, he doubted his own words. "I must take my leave." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she gave him one of her own. He just had to get away before she started happily chattering about future grandchildren. However, if Fugaku had been present, he would state that a potential Uchiha heiress had to meet all criteria. Traditionally, in their clan, a woman was in charge of the household, and if she were a ninja, she had to retire for the sake of the children. Not only applied to the head, but to all beneath._

I highly doubt Hanaru Uzumaki would be glad to agree to this if it came to that.

 _Shisui was just getting up when he returned. "I could use a good personal sparring to get myself back on my feet, if you got time, Itachi."_

 _There it was; he was going to ask his cousin regarding Saturday night and Hanaru the Explosive Force. "Yes, and I must ask for some advice. About Uzumaki-san," he responded, and this earned bouts of laughter as soon as they were safely outside the compound, making way to the training grounds which overlooked the lake spot. The white blossoms in the trees were in bloom, petals drifting to the ground like snowflakes in the early spring._

 _"Oh, you're putting your balls at risk to be on a date with the Force herself. Good luck with that. You need all the help you can get then." Itachi sighed sharply; the sooner he was over with this, the better. He just hoped that it wouldn't get in the way of his thoughts when he left for tomorrow's mission. He couldn't afford distractions, wondering how to make a good impression on the woman who decked his cousin in his vulnerable spot over a mere "compliment"..._

~o~

Akatsuki disbanded after Pain's demise, but the still living members were still active and doing what they did best. Remaining were Kakuzu of the Hidden Waterfall and Hidan from the Hot Water Land - both still partnered - Deidara the clay bomber and Kisame Hoshigaki the Monster of the Hidden Mist. But most importantly as far as Leaf was concerned...

Orochimaru was still up to his research tricks, but as for what he was doing now, intel found that he was still collecting the most powerful of chakra DNA, but for what now? _He still intends to destroy the Leaf Village, but what will he use someday soon? We still have no solid lead on his current whereabouts._ In short: the Snake Sannin slipped past him again. However, they captured Kabuto and tried to get him to talk, but he refused to betray his master, which baffled and disgusted the Uchiha. He was a loyal dog to a man who went from body to body; who knew if Orochimaru took "I want your body" to a certain, vile base level. Itachi remembered very clearly when he stopped the serpent from laying claim on his brother during the Chuunin Exams.

Kabuto Yakushi had gotten all the more skilled with escaping capture, such as performing substitution, replacing himself with a log attached with a paper bomb that made them all clear out. He was farther away before Itachi and his team could grasp. Post-war meant others get even more dangerous, others simply hidden away. "Disappointing, Captain," Yuugao said with disdain. "We almost had him...as always."

"Yeah," Itachi agreed, equally disgusted. Was it a surprise any longer?

Returning to report to Lord Hokage was dissatisfactory at its finest, but he wasn't the only one out there with the hunt continuing. But the greatest fact was that Orochimaru had taken up hiding in the border between Fire Country and Grass. Only where it was, that was yet to be determined. When apprehended, the snake would be under maximum security, but no death. As far as Itachi was concerned, death was too easy for the snake. Even though much of his life was spent staining his hands with enemy's bloods. Sometimes when there was nothing, he'd have thought he saw his hands covered with blood red as paint.

 _I am supposed to bring death to anyone who dared to intimidate the village, and I have done that. I won't forgive anyone who threatened it, including my parents, Shisui, my brother, and..._

 _Hanaru._

Her face reappeared in his mind as soon as he set foot out of the Hokage's office, making him remember his and Shisui's discussion. His memory was never terrible; he had excellent ways to suppress distractions until task completed. No flowers, no sweets - just arrive dressed his best. That was all he had been told. It was traditional, because at first he considered a bouquet of flowers since he'd seen boys and men give one to their women in an attempt of courtship, except with Hanaru, he didn't know if it would work on her. First impression would mean something far more sincere and mature than a tactic that had been done time and time again that it didn't work on everyone.

Half of him wanted to get Shisui for this when he selected the shirt for him, and it wasn't something he'd don everyday. But it turned out the effect was to the extremes.

In the instant he looked her over, he admired the dress which hid her body but also flattered her, without appearing like a curvaceous scandal. She was too good for this. _But it seems she thought of the importance of appearances._ Hyuuga-chan must have helped her; it wasn't a secret that the heiress and the Uzumaki Explosive Force were best friends. Nor was it uncommon knowledge that the woman was seeing Naruto. Since she wasn't in line to be clan head, Itachi would assume that she would be free to marry Naruto, if Hanaru's _otouto_ was considering. But then again, he might be wrong. Everyone had means of surprising.

Just like she surprised him with her reaction to seeing him standing in her doorway, suppressing his flinch at the red spandex that was plunging down his chest, hugging his body and arms. He expected her face to change color again, but she simply fell forward, and he acted on impulse, catching her in his arms with one sweep. He carried her bridal style into the apartment, using his foot to close the door behind him. She couldn't have done this on purpose; he could see that she didn't. But he took her off-guard. If this had been on the frontlines, he might have taken her at a disadvantage.

He was amused, once again. "What did you do, faint in shock?" he asked, setting her down on her feet, but she fell forward again, this time against his chest. The feel of her silken hair against his bared forearm was present in the tingling in his nerves which remained.

"Just...surprised," she breathed, sounding like a sweet little maiden confessing her love. She stood up then and there, rolling her shoulders and popping the bones, the sound reaching his ears, and she cleared her throat. "Well, ahem. Thank you for coming here."

He took the moment to look about the abode she shared with her brother, noting how spotless it was; if Naruto was here alone, he'd have imagined a pig sty or something. But it was very warm, lively and inviting, and the quilt draped over the sofa was patterned with brightly colored wildflowers. On the wall was a realistic painting of _sagisō_ \- or _habenaria radiata_ , which was a white orchid which resembled a white egret, and it symbolized your thoughts following the other into their dreams. _And the bird itself is an emblem of light._ Then his eyes fell on the table which had been arranged for dinner for two. He was impressed by the candelabra setup, and then the snowy and creamy roses in the middle. It had to be a gift, wasn't it?

"What you have done with the place is...interesting," he noted, watching her now as she bent over the oven to open it, then pulled out the grilled _yakizakana_ , the smell reaching his senses. She cooked just as well as his mother, but he said nothing. He hadn't even tasted it yet. He was amazed; he had seen what she could do on the frontlines, but he never got this home feeling from her.

Itachi found himself remembering his mother saying that he should find a girl and settle down. The thought didn't scare him; he in fact considered it, given all his accomplishments, but he hadn't found the right woman. The Uchiha were mingled with the rest of the village now, though some chose to be outside because they felt it was all they knew. Some habits were hard to let go.

Next to come out was miso soup and rice balls wrapped in seaweed. "I didn't even know what your favorites were..." Hanaru said, looking up at him when she was done, then pulled out the chair - there were only two - as the gracious hostess, just for him. _Shisui said the gentleman should do everything for the girl._ Yet here she was doing that job for him. He humored her by sitting down and making her smile.

"Anything but steak," he answered.

Her brows furrowed. "Why?"

 _Some meats have saturated fat which raises the cholesterol, which increases heart disease. But in terms of cancer, it's unclear._ Hearing this from him, she just burst into laughter and shook her head, going back to the fridge to get out a bottle of sake which pleased him. "I don't eat meat all the time, but I think it's crap what they say about the health risks." She sat down across from him, on her end, the rose and candle arrangement blocking them, but she did the honors of serving them half of the fish each, then two rice balls each and a cup each of miso. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she intended to stuff him silly tonight.

"Do your parents and Sasuke know you're here?" she asked curiously, pouring them the sake, starting with him first.

"Hn, of course. Except Father thinks I am out on a simple meal with some comrades in ANBU. These days he hardly cares what I do since trust is established," Itachi answered as he accepted his cup and placed it to the northeast of his plate. His stomach growled.

"Imagine what he'd say if he knew you'd be having dinner with me," Hanaru concurred. She was just now taking a bite of fish followed by a sip of miso from the ceramic bowl. Very ladylike and proper. Although he wondered about behind closed doors if she was the opposite, not bothering about appearances. He had to remind himself to take one step at a time.

His father would approve of Hanaru because she was a strong, worthy woman who could wear the family crest with dignity, but how would she deal with him herself? Fugaku was still ever a difficult man to please. He chose to shelf this thought for the time being and focus on the present in which he felt himself being taken to heaven by Hanaru Uzumaki's world famous meal.

Their conversation was very little, mostly talking about how she would cook for Naruto instead of allowing him to ALWAYS have his beloved Ichiraku's, which would have happened if she had never been in his life.

Itachi told her that his mother had done all of it, and so had he a few times. One fond memory when he and Sasuke were children: he cooked up a feast that got both him and _otouto_ fattened up and sleeping under the stars for the rest of the night. She burst into a fit of giggles.

Pleasantly so, no talk about death, the war - but then he had to ask her about the flowers, for curiosity's sake. It was random, he was aware, but interacting with people in such a manner - and an almost intimate one, at that, but absent of the thing called romance - was still one of his abilities that needed more work. "These flowers...may I ask?"

"Hanabi, Misaki and Daichu - the morning after the shot competition and Shisui's jaw dropping before my fist met his target point." She had no shame in admittance!

"Hn."

She looked at him oddly, mostly at his signature grunt, which was part of the Uchiha from the generations as far as he was aware. "You Uchihas," was all she could say. He frowned back at her; there was the hint that she'd expected him to say more. _There is already one expectation from her._

By the time the food was cleared from their plates, Itachi exhaled and leaned back. Sake and heaven down, he couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed a woman's meal who wasn't his mother's. Itachi looked up at her as she stood up and collected the dishes. " _Arigatō_ _, reifujin_ ," he told her. _Thank you, noble lady._ Just as soon as she put the dishes into the sink to clean, she halted but didn't turn around. His compliment must have gotten to her. But that was what she was: a fierce, unpredictable but delicate and kindred soul. Her hands were not only to break a man's pride, but also to care for and feed another. Something stirred in Itachi Uchiha that evening that he was unsure of how to explain to her, if not tonight.

"Allow me to do this for you," he offered, appearing behind her in a flash that made her nearly jump out of her skin. "You've made a marvelous meal that a man should repay you in return." Hanaru stepped away, still dazed and watching him. He smirked to one corner of his mouth, but it was on the other side so she didn't see.

"I believe...you would make a fantastic wife, Hana-chan."

~o~

He told her she would make a _fantastic wife_. She thought she was going to faint to the floor again. And he was doing the dishes for her like a real gentleman! She couldn't believe it!

Hanaru settled on wiping the table to try and distract herself, but him washing the dishes prevented that. The sake had nothing to do with this; they each only had two cups, and two wasn't enough to sink into your system, even though it was kind of strong. But one thing was for sure, and that was her body being on so much fire from the entire evening. She wasn't sure if dessert would cool her down.

He didn't smile, but his eyes lit up when she took the bowl of strawberry and vanilla _mochi_ from the freezer. "You've thought of everything."

"A good hostess has to care about every little detail," Hanaru answered, bringing it over for them to sit on the sofa. "I could have made dumplings, but I figured something...colder but still sweet could be a great end to a sumptuous, hot meal."

"Hot and sumptuous, is it?" he drawled lightly, sitting down beside her and accepting a pink piece, taking a bite from half of it and closing his eyes momentarily. "I think it just was." Was he doing this to her on purpose? He was damned good at everything, but much of the civilian folk still hadn't seen _half_ of what he could do. "And this, I would say, is cold and sweet as you said."

Hanaru nibbled on a vanilla-flavored piece, the ice cream interior melting on her tongue. "Was this evening what you thought it would be? Naruto would rather spend it at the ramen stand or with the boys when the _baka_ Kiba would want to head to the pub." Out of the friends of her brother's, the Inuzuka was an exception in which his bark was just as bad as his bite. Akamaru, his white wolf, followed his master's side like a good dog.

"What about your friends personally, besides Hyuuga-san?" he asked after another, this time vanilla like her, and she chose to switch for strawberry.

"They're all dead," she answered, feeling a pang that was distant but present. "Plus I was never in a Genin team, so it was a bit of an 'odd job', though I still learned how to work with everyone. Kakashi was very strict, as you know, but he was the best I knew." _The only one._ "But he had...trouble with me, not only because he was away in ANBU. Because of his father..."

She remembered being six or seven when he told her about Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang, and how great a man he was until the mistake which should have revered him as a hero, but his actions had consequences. _"My father was feared and respected - until a top secret dangerous mission which resulted in his comrades saved but the mission a failure. He was...vilified by not only his fellow Shinobi but also the ones he rescued. It was too much for him to bear that he took his own life - and I found myself standing over his corpse one night."_ Those chilling words would haunt her for the rest of her life. She'd been in the Academy, so to imagine her caregiver being orphaned at nearly the same age as she haunted her so much, in the same way she would see her baby brother before their paths crossed.

Telling Itachi this, she took in how something flashed across his eyes - _sympathy._ "So was Lord Third," she added. "He was somewhat like a grandfather, until that Orochimaru." She hissed through her teeth.

"Yes," Itachi agreed, and it was then that she saw it. He didn't say a lot, but she suspected it had to do with his mission. If it was Orochimaru's activities, then she wished she could know. Because the man killed his own mentor, the Third Hokage, and tried to destroy the village, even participated with the Akatsuki against all the Five Great Nations in the previous war, she hated him more than she hated him before. Just knowing he was still out there repulsed her. Conducting those experiments, changing bodies and faces to keep himself renewed - it made her vomit every time they came to light.

"Trust me when I say that someday he will get what he deserves," Itachi promised her as he sensed her distress, leaning a bit closer than before. "I wish I could say more other than that."

For the first time, Hanaru found herself saying something much bolder than anything she ever told him. She looked down at the treats remaining in the bowl. "I sometimes wish that such a thing as darkness and secrecy didn't exist. Too much privacy and protection means little joy, connection and trust," she muttered, and when she looked back up to meet his gaze, she couldn't read him at all. Now she was nervous she'd overstepped her boundaries.

~o~

"Been waiting for you all night, _aniki._ "

Itachi laughed lightly as he walked up the steps to the house, where Sasuke's hair was a little mussed, telling him that he was due for a hangover in the morning. Young people these days when they weren't on duty. "I highly doubt it, _otouto,_ " he answered smoothly, reaching down to ruffle his hair like he did when they were boys. "I take it you had fun."

Sasuke stuck his chin at him as well as his tongue, playfully, and made him laugh again but a tad harder. "Yes, I did, but I think _dobe_ is going to have a worse headache and vomiting just as much as Kiba and Choji," he answered, standing up with the elder brother and going in. Their parents were likely in bed and no longer worried about them. Itachi chose this time to share with Sasuke how his idea of fun had gone.

His evening with the woman with the formidable reputation had gone very interestingly. Although out of everything she told him which wasn't anything he hadn't heard, he was perturbed by her statement of the secrecy and darkness of the Black Ops even though she tried understanding. _Hana-chan...if only you could know, but you are too good to understand this dark side of my life. The best thing I can do is protect you from the shadows._

He wasn't sure why he thought of her as a helpless damsel of the past, but it was the simple need to just watch her back because it was in his nature to look after everyone. Hanaru was beginning to rub him off in a new form.

 **Reviews appreciated as usual. :D**


	7. He Dreamed Her

**There's an old song "I Dreamed You" by Anastacia that may have inspired me. I have not heard it in ages, but certain lines are in my mind that made me come up with the dream sequence, much of the chapter and its title.**

Chapter Six

He Dreamed Her

"OI, did you have fun, _onee-chan?_ " Naruto hooted as he lounged into the apartment, being dropped off with help from Kiba and Shikamaru, both rolling their eyes, and the dog boy sniggering which made her want to punch the daylights out of him. Shikamaru looked her way with a lifted eyebrow and cracked a smirk to one corner of his mouth.

Hanaru looked at the mess her brother was with a hint of humor in her bones, at the contrast of how they each spent their weekend night. "Get ready for a worse migraine than I had before, _otouto,_ " she retorted. She had just had her shower and got into her night shirt when she heard the door open, knowing there was only one person who could come in at this time of night. "Thank you both, I can take it from here." She walked before them and helped grasp Naruto beneath the right shoulder, and he leaned against her heavily, halfway supporting himself.

"Yeah, but I'm so wasted that I can't tell if I'm worse than him, or if he's better than me!" She laughed at the crude humor ever of Kiba Inuzuka, whose mouth was one of the things that got him into trouble. He just about looked her way and let his tongue wag at her. If he ever said anything foul about her, he was one of her targets.

"Good luck, Hanaru," Shikamaru told her as he was the one to close the door after them. "Wait till this gets out in the morning. But then again, it's nothing new anymore."

She scoffed as she deposited her wasted brother onto the sofa. "I imagine," she agreed, the lazy genius nodding and finally pulling the door closed. She left Naruto where he was to go over and lock the system. She turned to look back at him as he mumbled something she almost missed had she not rushed back to him, kneeling in front of him.

"Kiba," he said, giggling almost hysterically. "Sasuke - he never touches too much, the _teme!_ But he had fun and left saying that I'm the worst of the worst! I don't know if I really heard right, but MAN!" He doubled over onto his side, laughing hysterically. "But it's a good thing he never let it slip that you and his big brother had your first date!"

Hanaru hissed and stood up to help him sit higher. She could smell the sake and whatever else on his breath. "He'd better not! If Sasuke had lost control, he's gonna get his ass kicked."

Naruto's face got redder and redder with each laugh that escaped his throat and made his body shake. "Does that mean you get to tell me how it was?" he asked. _Oh, you're so drunk you can't even stop laughing._

She shook her head. "No, little brother. I'd rather you march right off to bed so I can tell you more in the morning. You need a clear head if you want to know everything." His bottom lip stuck out in a pout, but he stood up when she helped him the same way as when he stumbled back into their home. "And be prepared for a hard morning of vomiting, headaches and my special tea to relax it all."

By this time, they made it to his room, and she dropped him into his bed which was unmade, not surprisingly. She got to work on pulling off his sandals and sweats until he was down to his underwear, and she pulled the covers over him when she was finished. Naruto yawned and stretched himself out, his bones audibly popping, before reaching up to pull off his headband, resting it on his nightside table. Hanaru then reached for his alarm clock and set it for the preferred time which would be an hour after her. Her brother was going to be off tomorrow, but if Hokage-sama had to ask for them, she was going in his place since much of their abilities were similar, and others not.

"Good night, Naruto," she told him softly, turning the light off, heading off to bed herself.

~o~

 _He heard the door open. The sound was enough to rouse him from his stupor. The windows were opened partially to allow a light breeze, so he was baffled; why could the late night visitor not come in through there? He turned over from his side - he had been facing the window - to see the silhouette that stood in the doorway, outlined by the moonlight that shone in the room._

 _A woman stood in his private sanctuary._

 _"Who are you?" he asked softly, taking in the white flash that was the woman's dress. "What are you doing here?" He sat up, letting the sheet and blanket fall from his chest, revealing his naked muscles. His nipples hardened at the air that washed over them. He felt like he was under the sea, where blue, black and silver dominated his vision, but he could still breathe._

 _The unknown woman said nothing, but took a step further into the room, placing two, dainty bare feet on the floorboards, illuminated like white lilies. His eyes wanted to bleed red so he could see her face, but he was too transfixed, weakened like any other man, to get this over with. His body was betraying him. The white fabric that touched her ankles rippled to show a slim flowery leg, silken in appearance. Then she walked further in, the snow that blanketed her tightening to show off her curves - and he meant_ every _line a woman possessed._

 _He opened his mouth, but no words came out. She walked into this room, with no words spoken, no logical reason - she was just here. She was making him vulnerable._

 _But the choice was also his alone. His heartbeat raced as his body was frozen in place while she reached up with one hand to her right shoulder, pulling the gauzy material from there, exposing a smooth shoulder, then did the same to the other...and the white fell down the beauty that was the woman's body, pooling around her feet. Everything she owned was a feast for his eyes alone. Her long legs, her hourglass waist, her flat stomach, and her plump breasts with the dark peaks. The shadows hid her pubic area very well. She was a walking flower in the moonlight. His loins were clenching and burning fire._

 _Long hair, pale as her body, was draping over both shoulders, outside her breasts. She pushed it over as she began to walk towards him again - and that was when he saw her face and uttered a gasp, the sound hollow as it scraped through his dried esophagus._

 _It was_ HANARU.

 _She pulled down the covers from his hips at the same time he was laying down on the bed, her form covering his as she leaned down over him, her hair falling on either side like a protective curtain from the outside world...oh, she drove him wild when her hips joined with his!_

 _Her whisper of his name drove him over the edge._

"Itachi."

~o~

He had dreamed her when he came home that night, and for many nights to come in not even three weeks. He thought he was going mad with this. They had only one dinner at her apartment, and then he started having these -!

 _This has to just be need. I can't resort to something like this. She doesn't deserve something that will be one time; I don't want this to be temporary. We only enjoyed each other's company for a longer period of time in one night, and yet not long after, I have this dream about her, coming to me herself in fully bloomed confidence..._

Which was what she did that day in the tea shop after so many months of short run-ins and side-by-side in the war. But before that, she was notorious as her brother, yet he'd never seen her or paid heed before. Now he wished he'd known her then.

Sasuke noticed nothing, and neither did Fugaku; it was like his father to notice nothing unless it was absolutely important. But Mikoto certainly did, and she had to ask him to confide in her. Shisui was no better with his suggestion of a gift in the near future - and he knew just the one from the one place that the Uchiha were connected with.

"Shisui, that is pushing!" Mikoto exclaimed, hands on hips. "Itachi, first thing is first, and that is to bring her so I can have a word or two. It could be like me and Kushina in good old days." Her eyes sparkled brightly, a star in each against the night sky.

He was at a standstill between the gift and bringing her to meet his mother since Mikoto adored her - but something else was on his mind, and it occurred in the three weeks to follow when he would come back for a few days, and he made most of it by hiding out in the trees and surveying her with her students in the training grounds.

Hanabi Hyuuga - it didn't surprise him to see how aggressive she was, and how she deciphered what her opponents would do to her, making direct attacks she saw coming. Long brunette hair she let loose, the opalescent eyes of her clan sided with the bulging veins of activation. The chakra was gathered in her palms, bordered on aggression; she was currently fighting Daichu Yoshido who released his jutsu, which was several kunai engulfed in flames towards the Hyuuga heiress. He was dark-haired and dark-eyed, with glasses, and with an intense eye on Hanabi as he threw all he had. The lad could do Fire, Earth and Lightning, which made him decide that he could cancel out Sasuke if he had to - but his sister could put out fire with her water, as well as intensify the flames with the wind.

What struck Itachi's fascination was what the boy called the Lightning Ball, which could be above the Rasengan and the Chidori, for it gathered chakra in the palm and crackled with electricity. When his flaming kunai failed to penetrate Hanabi's Palms Rotation, he settled on the ball of lightning...only for it to backfire and send Daichu-san back into the air, yelling out in some pain when his energy crackled over his system. Itachi watched with a flinch as he skidded across the grounds, sending up smoke and debris.

He would bet these two becoming ultra-powerful someday.

Hanaru, shocked and furious, dashed to her male student's side and put her hands on his chest, like a medical ninja would, and began to transfer enough of her chakra to heal as much as she could, but Lady Tsunade and Sakura would have to do the rest. Her energy could amplify and coexist with his as far as it would go. And the boy grunted and grimaced as he gingerly sat up, his sister coming to kneel beside him. She had long red hair in a low ponytail, doe brown eyes, and a soft demeanor that reminded him of a girl from his clan who died during the war.

"Daichu, perhaps you finally got it through that if you try to break through the Hyuuga's Palm Rotation, you'll just get shocked through your entire body again," his sensei scolded. "What has Tsunade-sama told you time and time again every time we take you to her for THIS?"

He grunted and rubbed his arms, standing when she helped him to his feet. "Yeah, Sensei, but I keep hoping that the rotation has a weak spot if I just kept striking," he said, and his response made Itachi shake his head, and his thoughts were echoed in Hanaru's words.

"Keep it up and you'll die. I keep telling you that. I wonder if you'll realize it. There are other ways you'll find Hyuuga weaknesses - but don't forget that others have the Byakugan." She was speaking of Ao the Shinobi from the Hidden Mist. Daichu-san grumbled and nodded, ignoring the smirk of Hanabi and shaking of Misaki's head. "Girls, keep training while I take care of him, and try not to kill each other."

Itachi watched her lead the young man away, impressed with how patiently she handled them. He had been looking forward to seeing her moves towards her students as he'd seen in battle - but without her powerful fist, because would she really do such a thing to her own pupil? - but he saw a compassionate, soft-hearted but firmly spoken woman towards three younger faces. This was nothing he ever saw often; many instructors physically attacked their students to get through to them that their enemies wouldn't wait for them to be ready. But had that happened before today with this group in particular?

Itachi turned his attention back to watch as Hanabi was targeted by a Water Style Jutsu that escaped from Kimura-san's mouth, which she called "Water Steel Bullets". They appeared as senbons leaking water, projecting towards the target with the goal to pierce the important chakra points within the body, but the Hyuuga was prepared in which she leaped into the air and then flipped upside down, drawing up the Twin Trigram Palms which her sister mastered, and dodged the watery needles to fly forwards...only for a great bomb of wind to be sent from Misaki's mouth and project Hanabi backwards into the air, the distance being great enough to send her into the trees.

This was a sight to behold: a teacher-student group consisted of three women and one man - and extremely _powerful kunoichi._

Chuckling, he decided that he'd seen enough and had better matters to attend to. Their sensei was the one he was thinking about, but to approach her at the hospital without a good reason? He couldn't just tell her he dreamed about her one night and wanted to ask for her hand in proper courtship, even if his father would disapprove if he found out. But he was prepared if the man did; he could leave the house anytime he wanted to.

Sometimes he believed he'd stayed only because of Sasuke, but it wasn't like his brother needed him anymore.

~o~

"I swear, you can say he's kind of like Naruto," the pink-haired woman told her when they spoke outside Daichu's room in which he was getting smart with Shizune. Imagine if it broke out between him and Tsunade if she were here. The well-endowed woman would send him through the wall, or at least give him a mark with a blend of painful colors that would last a couple months at the very best.

Hanaru scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. "I don't know if it's worse or just the same. Less is an understatement."

Sakura shrugged. "But I swear, for him to just jump in directly on Hanabi's technique - maybe he is more reckless than your brother," she said with a light scowl before teasing her again. "Too bad you couldn't get through to him yet, _Sensei_."

"Oh, I'm doing the best I can. He'll get it someday, I am sure of it." _But I'd also say Hanabi had the best chakra control, if she's really the best of the family as her father says. Misaki could put him out but also encourage him; that's how I feel she is like me but also a bit like my brother. Though him and Hanabi most of all...there's more than competition going on between them. I've seen the way he looked at her, but she sees him as a good test for her skills. She's picky about guys, but she's not even thirteen yet. Not to be harsh, but what do young girls know about love at that age?_ It made her think about Sakura and a certain younger Uchiha. How could she forget that at one time, the pinkette was one of those to sneer at Naruto when he and Sasuke were bitter rivals in their days at the Academy?

Time really changed everything. Because then she saw Itachi from a "hiding spot", he never noticed her - then they fought beside each other in the war, and now here they were. But it had been barely three weeks since the dinner at her and Naruto's place. She hadn't seen Itachi at all, which bothered her. A small part of her was worried he was avoiding her, when he wasn't out of the village, but she tried not to fret.

 _I feel like I still said something wrong, about the Black Ops secrecy and such._

"We'll release him before the day is over," Shizune announced when she left the room, closing the door to a frustrated Daichu, and at the same time, another voice appeared in the air.

"Hanaru-sensei," Misaki said, appearing disheveled and pink-faced, "and hi, Sakura, Shizune. Thought I'd see how my idiot brother is doing."

Hanaru laughed and walked past her, patting her shoulder. "Promise to not kill him before his recovery."

Misaki snorted. "I promise nothing!" she called over her shoulder.

She hadn't realized how exhausted she was when she looked at the time, and her stomach rumbled. She didn't feel like picking something up from the shops, but there was instant ramen at the house. Although when she was just setting foot into the apartment, something seemed amiss. Nothing about the rooms was out of place, although she sensed a fading chakra presence, but nothing threatening. However, there lay a piece of folded white paper as well as a _necklace_ on the kitchen table, deliberately for her to see and uncaring if Naruto would find it beforehand. Hanaru walked over and picked it up, seeing the chain was about sixteen inches long, which meant the thing would rest a little above her breastbone.

It was a rose-gold frame of dainty leaves and vines; a rose was placed at the north, south, east and west points. In the middle of it all was a perfectly round aqua gem with a darker heart like the ocean depths. It was very beautiful, but as for what the paper said...

 _"Aoi bara o shiroku suru,"_ she whispered aloud, then nearly dropped it when the meaning came to light as well as an idea of _who_ left this. She was shocked that HE had to break into her home without triggering an alarm just to leave this for her!

 _Blushing blue rose._

 **Of Hanaru's students, whom I introduced in Bamboo Woods: Daichu Yoshido (Earth Style, Fire and Lightning) and his adopted sister Misaki Kimura (Water and Wind Style). Hanabi is known for having uber powerful strength in simply the Trigram Palms Techniques of her clan as well as her eye sensory.**

 **Oooh, hoo, let's see what happens when she goes to confront the one who left her the necklace. :D**


	8. Read Between the Lines

**When I reread "The Winds of Spring" and "Bamboo Woods", I remembered the complication that is Itachi in ANBU. His little love, none other than Hana-chan, eventually makes him leave because of an action on mission. Now I was wondering what their problem could be here that predates...**

 **I don't know what to say other than, for some reason, this was hard to do because of what Hanaru and her Genin will do that Itachi and a couple of his subordinates are charged to watch over them, and the drama really begins. There are no words to describe how exhausting it was to do extensive research - and how worth I know it was. :)**

Chapter Seven

Read Between the Lines

Her response to receiving the secret gift wasn't what he anticipated. He should have known it wouldn't have been easy.

The jewel was a treasure that was based off of a rare flower, an _aoibara_ \- or blue rose - which wasn't naturally grown, but then again, nobody knew except the experts. The oceanic jewel was placed within rosy metal and etched around with roses on vines. It was something luminous and rare, very powerful, just like the woman it was for. His eyes trusted his own judgment as much as the seller.

Shisui was to thank for this, but it was Hanaru's reaction that mattered most. He was home when he left it within her surroundings, after overstepping the security system and getting through her window with the use of his _shikoro_ blade. He'd done this before in the houses of noblemen with shadowy business, those that ran prostitution and child trafficking rings, the likes. As well as rogue-nin, and speaking of which, news was received regarding Kisame Hoshigaki from Akatsuki. He was said to be hired by many shady businessmen, as the numbers were few these days, but even repeated hires could be a turn of the tables for him as he was one of the best in the organization that failed to capture the Tailed Beasts. _How the mighty have fallen. What they are up to these days is nothing more than petty hiring._

But when he returned back to the house, Shisui was on the back porch overlooking the lake, with a familiar box in his hands, and his face was devoid of an expression, except his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Someone is playing hard to get. Who would have thought, cousin?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, walking up and taking the package...only to find the necklace and note inside, but there was also another with her handwriting. At Shisui's snickering, he read it aloud, his blood spiking. _"Arigatō, watashi wa ukeireru koto ga dekimasen."_

 _Thank you, but I cannot accept._

He couldn't believe this at all; she'd returned it with a thanks, but why wouldn't she keep it? He wanted to find out. "I'm going to see her," he told Shisui, who flashed him a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Itachi."

Unfortunately, he was denied his opportunity when he was called away and to the Hokage's office. He never got to seek her because Kakashi-sama had an assignment for him, Yamato and Sai - and it regarded when he would call for Hanaru Uzumaki's Team Eight. "They are set to leave for Takumi Village," he said. "We intercepted a message requesting a need for a truce with the Land of Fire after the incident with the Kazekage and knowing that they would not be welcomed back in Sand's favor so easily."

To learn about the Artisan Village which was as minor as the Rain Village - and having once been in range of Akatsuki territory - made him close his eyes beneath his mask. The founder of the village, perhaps a century ago, had been resurrected through one of his last four followers so to attempt the capture of Gaara and wreak havoc on all five of the Great Ninja Nations. He was difficult to kill, but ultimately Gaara defeated him with his Sand Burial. No one ever heard from the remaining three of the Four Celestial Symbols Men again. "Lord Sixth, could the one who sent out the message be the last of the Four Celestials?" he asked as team captain. _The ones who are supposed to be dead? Settled by our own and the Sand together?_

"Honestly?" the Hokage replied. "I've considered it, and my hunches are usually on a high note, but I'm not taking any chances. Those four are dead, so it might just be someone else who is returning. Which is why I am sending the three of you to look after Team Eight in case this is something much darker and sinister, or better yet if these could only just be newcomers who want to just rebuild the village and start over. Hence this has to be verified."

"Which means that if they are the returned Celestials, we eliminate them on sight," Yamato stated. "Those Genin of hers won't be a match for them." _But they deserve to be tested against them, only it's like they still need protection no matter what. And if they have Hanabi Hyuuga in their ranks, I would wish to see how they fare on an even more dangerous mission._

Itachi relaxed his posture. "When does Team Eight leave?" When this was over - and he hoped it would be, just because he wasn't sure he wanted to see Hanaru killed this time, or severely wounded - he was going to ask her why she returned his gift.

He had to put his personal feelings aside for now, because when he read the note, he activated his bloodline, but the disturbing fact was that the handwriting wasn't the sort he recognized. He couldn't even read between the lines; whoever made this did a masterful job of covering their tracks. All the more reason to tail Hanaru's squad.

~o~

"Hanaru-sensei," Misaki was saying as they walked the road for the Land of Rivers, "this place we are going to is the Village of Artisans, where they were once thriving help with manufacturing weapons for all five Shinobi nations, but then they hit rock bottom due to wartimes and continued to suffer after."

Daichu reached to take off his glasses, rubbing them on his shirt. "Yeah, and it's too bad. I heard they were badass, too," he agreed, putting them back on his eyes. "And you'll never believe this: when they tried to plead with our village and the others for help, it was like they were rejected despite all those years of service." He spat onto the ground and kicked at the dirt, making Hanaru frown but say nothing. If he wanted to do that for awhile, then she would let him.

Hanabi's Byakugan was on alert in the moment to scan the area, but then it was off when she found nothing. "I heard that their founder lived a hundred years ago, but then four descendants supposedly resurrected him in one of them, so they could try and take the Kazekage's Tailed Beast to complete the resurrection," she said, her mouth twitching. "But not before Lord Gaara had anything to say about it." She frowned then, looking up at her teacher.

"Sensei, suppose these mysterious people are the four here to seek vengeance against the Leaf Village when the Sand wasn't enough? I don't like this at all," Hanabi said with a scowl.

"None of us do, but that is why we are there to find out. Lord Hokage wouldn't choose us without a good reason. Also, be prepared for a real battle if one breaks out." She wasn't sure if she was ready to lose either of them if it did come to that, but it always happened with the Shinobi. Her students were strong and powerful for their time, so maybe they would one day be better than her. Hanabi functioned with her teammates, but sometimes she fought on her own, and who knew if her father approved of that.

"I thought the Four Celestial Men were killed by your brother and his friends a few years ago," Misaki said with a frown. "If that's the case, then these could be new people with good intentions - or they are baiting us."

That was something to consider. Her brother, Rock Lee and Gaara took down Suiko the Tiger; Ryuugan the Dragon by Kiba, Choji and Kankuro. Shikamaru, Temari and Ino Yamanaka settled Kujaku the Bird. And finally, there was Hoki the Turtle through which the village founder was resurrected. He had been taken down by Gaara.

Daichu was fingering his weapons pouch on his side. "Sensei, if it's any of those guys, then this is going to be exciting," he announced, a smile suddenly crossing over his face. "A real strong opponent to test ourselves against." _Don't get too far ahead. They could kill you today when you speak too soon._

It was then and there that they finally reached Takumi Village which was dead ahead. Not even a couple days' journey, and they'd made it. As expected, it was worn with abandonment, with no signs of life. Not even families or young couples. To think once a people with artistic skills to manufacture all Shinobi weaponry had lived here.

They halted just outside the gate. "Hanabi, use your Byakugan again," Hanaru ordered. They were NOT going through that gate barrier without confirmation, and the Hyuuga saw all from identification to every vital organ. At the same time, she alerted her senses and captured just what her student did.

"I see them," Hanabi whispered. "All four of them - the Four Celestials."

Misaki and Daichu both hissed and assumed the positions, with the sister bringing forth shadow clones - twenty to count - and her brother calling forth his Lightning Ball, blue snake-like chakra crackling with random electricity on the surface. Hanaru was ready to fight herself.

"Come on out then," she called. "We know who you really are, and you wanted Leaf here. Is that what this is about: vengeance for rejection? And how the hell are you all here when you're supposed to be _dead?_ "

"Yeah, but we don't care!" Misaki shouted, brandishing a kunai in both hands at the same time as her clones. "So come out, punks!"

There was a pause before a girlish male voice called back to them just as the four figures jumped out from their hiding places. "Punks, huh? Woman, you should teach those kids of yours some manners!" The speaker was a young boy, probably around her Genin's ages, very slender, and his appearance could very much make him look humanoid or a mythical beast in human form. His hair was blue as water beneath a cloudless sky. His green eyes were sickly, with blue eyeshadow beneath them. His sword was strapped to his back. That scarf around his neck was white as his forehead protector - in fact, all his teammates had the same headband. As well, all of them were in purple, brown and gray clothing, each accustomed to fit their different structures.

"Now, Ryuugan, kids that age are all the same until they learn their lessons the hard way." The next one to come forth was an extremely large man - the largest of the lot - but he didn't appear to be the leader. His brown hair was shoulder-length and wavy, unlike the way Itachi would wear his, and his beard matching; his eyes were small and beady black. HIs garments were armor, and in the front was a familiar demonic-looking face with glowing red eyes... _the Infinite Armor._

Next to come was the only woman of the group, which was nothing new. She laughed haughtily as she took in the three women and only boy. "Now, this is a sight where I can laugh in a good way," she stated with one hand on her hip, tossing her yellow lined, blue-green hair over one ear, blinking light brown eyes and pushing her pale red lips out in a seductive pout. This was the one with the ultra-powerful double-edged swords. She was a beast, and she nearly killed Temari had Shikamaru not been her savior.

And finally, there was the leader himself, the one said to be the best tactician of the lot. The face was slim with a prominent jaw, brunette hair swept around the rear, and his sword appeared to be pure white. "Well, we can laugh all we want together once we finish painting the walls of our village red with their blood...except the one he asked for," he said, lip curling into a delightful smirk. Hanaru stood on both legs tall, hands on her own hips, assessing immediately that this trap had been placed so that someone from the Leaf Village would be captured, almost like Gaara had been, but for what reason this time - and WHO? _But it means either me or one of my students._

She lifted her chin at all four of them as they stood face to face against her and her young squad. What shocked Hanaru most of all was the fact the sclerae were not white - they were soulless black. The Four Celestials had been revived by none other than the forbidden Edo Tensei.

"Oh...my...Kami," Hanabi uttered disgustedly. "Gross beyond reasoning."

Daichu blinked and reached for his glasses before deciding cleaning them at a time like this wasn't enough. "Hanaru-sensei, I think I really see dead people standing in front of us," he uttered. "Kami is right."

His red-haired sister grunted. "Oh, they are, but we can take them," she declared, reminding the Explosive Force that she was too much like her brother Naruto at this point.

"Hanaru," the leader, who was Hoki the Turtle, repeated, raising an eyebrow that disappeared up to his headband, "as in Hanaru Uzumaki, the feared Force of Explosions?"

"That would be me," she answered smoothly. "I guess that means it would be...me you're looking for? Or is it one of my students?"

He snorted with laughter. "Well, guess there's no point in keeping it secret, Explosive Force. But with this little fight, let the answer present itself. Boys, lady?" he asked of the others, all of whom drew forth their various blades.

She hissed. "Guys," she said to the trio, "remember their abilities from what you heard through Naruto, Shikamaru and the others. And if they're that overconfident, we can still take them. But if you think you go down, then I'll use one of the Uzumaki's secret techniques..."

 _One that only my mother and the other women of our extinct clan can use._

~o~

The Four Celestials were all there, reincarnated, and there was only one man who could have done something abominable and atrocious as this. "Orochimaru," Sai whispered harshly. "Who else could it be, Captain?"

Itachi surveyed and nodded. "Possibly. He's here, but hidden." _If his plan fails, then will come a backup, whatever it shall be._ In the present, to see the four once taken down by Naruto, the Kazekage, and their comrades was disturbing as an understatement. All could wield lethal blades, together form the Fish Scales Barrier which entrapped their intended target, and all of them overtly confident which proved their downfalls. On top of it, they were here to capture someone from the Leaf Village with the encrypted farce of a letter - and he had a terrible feeling he suspected _who_ it was, if it wouldn't be Hanabi Hyuuga.

Yamato hummed in deep thought. "If they are reincarnated dead, then they must be sealed away until we get to their caster," he said. "We're ready when you are, sir."

The Uchiha would love nothing more, but as soon as the fight began on the squad leader's command - _reckless woman, you set your Genin against all-powerful living dead! Honestly!_ \- he was amazed at how the squad improved when he surveyed how Hanaru and her students each took on their own opponent.

Daichu Yoshido had a worthy adversary in the youngest of the group, who was called Ryuugan and took great pride in his Garian Blade - a three-pronged weapon wired with metal through its system that controlled its every action, and it expanded so it could be shot towards the target. But first came the chakra gathering that ultimately released and formed a gleaming, ferocious chakra dragon. "Now I hope you die fast; I don't see anything special about you!" Ryuugan sneered. "That chakra ball - I've seen that before! Isn't there anything new?" He was referring to Naruto Uzumaki, none other, and this made his opponent angry at being compared to one of the heroes of the last war.

"Then take this, kid!" Daichu shouted, and with that, he flung his crackling ball of chakra right into the dragon and its owner.

You would think a small girl like Hanabi Hyuuga wouldn't stand a chance against a big man like Suiko who had tiger-like prowess along with his Infinite Armor which absorbed chakra of the other attacking him, and that strength proved to be his greatest weakness when it was broken through by Gaara the first time, and if the One-Tailed _Jinchuuriki_ could find that vulnerability, the Hyuuga heiress did.

But this was how it was when you fought reanimated: no matter if you cut off a limb, hit their most vulnerable place, they would always repair. You could only seal them away or free them by controlling the caster in order to make them release the jutsu.

A great and powerful wind brushed past their faces - the source had come from the green-haired woman known as Kujaku, who created a reverting gust that drew up the power of a tornado, which repelled even Misaki-san's Wind Bomb she blew from her mouth, and sent the redhead across the distance, striking her into a tree. Her shadow clones had all been dispersed beforehand. The double-sword wielding reanimated _kunoichi_ then projected herself into midair and was ready to come down and strike - but then she found herself subjected to Misaki's watery needles which hit her vital points and sent her pinned down to the ground. This technique could pierce like average senbons, but not kill.

And finally, there was Hanaru against the Celestials leader, who'd had the founder of Takumi Village reborn through him. Hoki had the black sword without a name that projected and manipulated flames, capable of incinerating anything in its path - no different than Amaterasu, but the Mangekyo ebony flames were far more powerful than this. Amaterasu chased the target until completely cleared from existence.

Hanaru thought she had him when she performed the shadow clones, the real one appearing beneath him and ready to deliver the striking blow to where it would hurt him the most - in reality, it would only land him at a disadvantage for her to seal him down - but Hoki showed he had more surprises than she expected. If he did the first time, the second time was no different.

"He may be cornered," Itachi said to Yamato and Sai, "but he can still catch you off when you least expect." He already saw what was happening even before the three of them jumped from their hiding places in the trees at the right time, impressed with the Leaf Shinobi against the four revived dead, but they had to seal the four away before anyone was killed. _The Genin, but most of all..._

"Hanaru-sensei!" It was the exclamation of Misaki that had their attentions along with their own actions as the appearance of the ANBU Black Ops. Itachi surveyed any physical injuries left on the young Shinobi, seeing that Misaki sustained only mild trauma due to hitting the tree, Hanabi a few minor cuts on her body from Suiko's mace, and Daichu's right arm had a few burns from his jutsu ball. Although it would appear the main issue would be the one his eyes made contact with when they landed on _Hanaru_ herself.

All four of the Celestial Symbols Men were held down to the ground by the Uzumaki Chains of Sealing. She neutralized them after attacking without too much resistance, protecting all three of her students - and them, three shadow protectors - but it appeared that she would be exhausted enough that she would eventually be forced to release them. They had to act fast.

Kneeling before her while Yamato gathered Hanabi and her teammates, Sai inspecting the entrapped four, Itachi found himself slightly stunned that when her eyes peered through his mask, it was as if she already _knew who he was_. But she said nothing, only smiled lightly.

Yet even if he were not wearing his mask, he could not bring himself to smile back. _Why did you return the gift?_

 **WHOO HOO, GO TEAM EIGHT - AND MOSTLY HANARU. :D Can you imagine how lover boy Itachi must be feeling right now - besides having doubt as to why she gave him back the necklace?**


	9. Swallowed by the Serpent

**Writing out the fight between the Four Celestials and Hanaru's Genin was hard as hell since these guys were filler, and it's easy to forget most of the time. However, I did research the best I could.**

 **Now comes a moment I waited to do, since doing the sequels so long ago...**

Chapter Eight

Swallowed by the Serpent

Short-lived but successful, the battle could hardly be called one at all, since it was petty compared to the revulsive terror that was the reanimated Shinobi army in the Fourth World War. There was unnecessary grief, hate and rage all rolled in one, but this paled in comparison.

It was only fitting she fought Hoki, leader against leader, and if Hanabi's eyes saw it all, she could tackle the mace man with the chakra absorbing armor in the front of his body, then her teammates could do the same with the other two, since their styles were similar and might as well cancel out. Though there was one problem about Daichu in terms of using his chakra electricity, and his limit was three shots - one more than Sasuke with his Chidori. Pushing past your limits meant certain death. Although, it seemed Ryuugan was the one to push him too far with his taunts, because he saw Naruto's Rasengan a long time ago - and that earned the energy ball right into his dragon sword.

It was too bad that powerful gust of wind Kujaku, its owner, projected into midair sent Misaki backwards whilst dispersing her clones before any action could take place with the many kunai - although she congratulated her girl on the aim for the chakra points in the other Wind Style user. _We learned everything we had to, from my brother and his friends, but it feels TOO easy. And these guys were dead!_

She wasn't surprised that Hanabi went right for the vulnerable spot that was the armored face in the middle of his body, and that was driving a multiple number of blades into that spot, disabling him. Suiko, enraged and frustrated that she found it quicker than "those runts", called her a diva with piercing moonlight eyes that saw all. Hanabi would have spotted it right away even if she didn't read his preliminary.

Hanaru found herself subjected to that blasted black sword enveloped with flames that its owner manipulated at will. "Burn, baby!" Hoki shouted with glee as the fiery steel came her way - but it was matched by the small wind burst that she summoned from both her hands, and it projected the fire back to him, which in turn sent him off his feet and skidding across the ground. Small as it was, the impact that erupted was enormous. She smirked from the corner of her mouth. _Serves you right._

"Damn it, that wasn't what I expected of the woman who breaks balls for a living!" he said with irritation as he picked himself up. She seized this opportunity, choosing to ignore his annoyed and sarcastic remarks, and take him down with six shadow clones - and the real her slipped behind him to deliver the bang to the place she knew well. He might be dead, but he would literally fall to bits besides feeling the impact.

"Oh, that's what I am talking about!" Hoki shouted when he was launched into the air, and then he was using his sword to draw around his being as he recollected himself, the change in atmosphere creating a whirlwind - a technique so powerful it would have shaken the earth up...but he never got to finish when Hanaru called forth the technique that would leave her drained and exhausted for some time after this. Her bones quivered when the iron things erupted in all directions. It didn't hurt because her pain tolerance was high; it ran in her family, though the uncomfortable sensations were present. The chains could form a barrier around them, but she chose to keep it limited to tying down all four of the reanimated Celestials to the ground. Misaki cried out her name at the same time the surprise backup showed up.

Three ANBU Black Ops sent by the Hokage jumped out from the trees. They'd masked their chakra signatures so well that she didn't pick them up. Often she was able, but this trio was an exception. When they released their presences, she found herself recognizing one specifically. _Itachi_ , she thought with a strained smile only the ground saw when she lowered her gaze.

"Get away from the detained!" one of the other two shouted, the tallest. At the order, Hanabi, Daichu and Misaki leaped back into their little group. She looked up again and noted her boy's lower arm slightly singed from the crackled chakra. Hanabi had a couple cuts on her face and a few more on her hands; there had to be more, but nothing severe. Misaki also suffered a little numbing muscle pain when her back hit the tree. The worst that could have happened was her spine snapping, paralyzing her for the rest of her life.

A shadow fell over her. Hanaru looked up and saw _him_ kneeling in front of her. The mask he wore was the weasel, which was his name, and she recognized his long ponytail swishing in the calm. Not only that, but she looked into his eyes, seeing the red glow of his bloodline.

If he could see what she was thinking, he gave no hint in his body language. Instead, he cocked his head to one side.

Finally, Hanaru could take no more and whispered, "Thank you for coming." She didn't know why that came out, of all things, but she was glad to see him here. And if he already figured out this whole thing had been a ruse, then she was relieved. However, one person behind this came to mind, since he'd done it in the last war...

"Hold your place while we secure these four," was all Itachi said as he stood up, cool and professional. Hanaru watched him, feeling herself sink inside. It wasn't that she didn't understand that he had a job to do, because they all did, but something more. She was sure he found the necklace returned to him. She remembered the day she found Shisui at the Uchiha place by the lake, and when her eyes fell on that shimmering crystalline disc as well as the forestry, the wildflowers blooming in white, yellow, pink, lavender and orange...her breath was blown away. She wished she could live in a spot like this if she wanted to.

 _"Well, woo-hoo, if it isn't the lady who broke my manhood over a little compliment."_

 _"'Lady'? A lady wouldn't break your_ balls _, which is hardly a compliment. Is Itachi here?"_

 _"Not at all, but he's not yet on a mission either...oh, I see why. I can guess why you're giving that back. I've seen it before."_

 _"I really love this, but I won't accept it that easily. I want to hear it from him himself, if he's as interested in me as I think he is. But we had only one dinner, and it's been three weeks. He's either avoiding me on purpose or he's away on patrol. Shisui, all these years, I watched him from far away, but he never once looked in my direction in return. Then we fight together in the last war with you and our brothers. This necklace is a lovely gift, but it's not the same thing as telling me to my face."_

 _"...what can I say, Hana-chan? Itachi is good at reading and understanding people, but expressing his feelings is another story."_

Which meant it was possible she and he would talk after this, and she would flat-out ask him. After all these years, wasn't it enough he had feelings for her, too, since his best friend made it blaringly obvious?

This was nothing like those hormonal girls she hated even though she had been at that age. In that time, she told herself she was too proud to stoop to that level. He was still a magnet that attracted her. She watched him as he drew out the scroll and performed the signs, which in turn formed bandages that came to wrap around the first, who was none other than Kujaku, who stated that she wasn't going to say a thing about Orochimaru, and to follow next were her men. The black markings stretched onto the north, south, east and west ends when the paper seal latched over the face. There were three ways to stop the reanimated: one was to control the caster into releasing it, another to seal the dead away, and the third was effective but not always reliable, and that was an emotional form of closure for the revived. Itachi assumed the second option because their last hope was the one behind this.

Hanaru had to release the sealing chains when her body reached its limits. She heard one of the ANBU say _"Super Beast Scroll"_ , and she looked in his direction to see a scroll on the ground, an ink quill in hand, and out burst several birds white and thin as paper, outlined in black, which took flight into the sky. "They will see if the caster is anywhere in the area," the Shinobi told them all. Hanabi watched with rapt fascination.

"Sure they won't get sliced up like paper before they get back to us?"

"Hanabi!" Misaki said, shocked, but the ANBU seemed unaffected.

"I assure they will, and they're discreet."

Itachi then turned his attention back to him. "Send the report back to Lord Hokage, and we'll clear this area." He turned to look back up at Hanaru who stretched herself, but her bones felt wobbly, and she fell into his arms when he dove to her side. At the order, another ink bird was brought to life, and this time with a little scroll attached to its hind legs.

Hanaru looked through the black holes, in which she saw that the red reverted back to depthless onyx. "The treaty was all a deception, as we thought," she rasped, looking up at him. He nodded once, saying nothing.

 _The Sharingan can read between the lines, but it was still a little surprise. Now that just leaves -_

Her thought was cut off when something erupted from the earth and loomed over all of them, casting a great shadow - _oh, no, I see it. A great white serpent._

A sinister, slithering laugh filled the air. The name of this demon came to mind when she recognized certain features belonging to the man that Itachi and Shisui fought to release the Edo Tensei. "Orochimaru!" she hissed, glaring daggers up at him. His yellow serpentine eyes looked down in her direction.

"Hanaru Uzumaki - fate has smiled down upon me."

The way he said her name and disregarded Itachi and the others gave her the answer as to who was his target: _me_. "So, it's me you're here for," she spat. "Why me? Your new body vessel?" _But if my mathematical calculations are correct, then he should have gotten a new one not that long ago. He couldn't need me for that..._

He chuckled at her answer and then in amusement at the assembling of Hanabi and her teammates, before changing it to Itachi and the other two. "Not quite, but you've figured it out, my dear. Itachi, long time no see," he said casually, long and sharp teeth gleaming in the light. "It was fun to watch you put away the pawns, but too quick and easy. Then again, I expected it, and I always come with a backup. But I don't need to tell any of you that."

What happened next, Itachi drew his sword, and the ANBU with the cat-like mask performed a handsign that transformed his arm into a real tree stump. The wood then split apart to envelope all over the monster that was the real form of Orochimaru, having shed his skin as he came in rather than as a human. The beast hissed as he found himself entrapped and held in place by the technique of the First Hokage; no one else had Wood Style the way this masked Shinobi did.

The captain's katana went right for the serpent's head, slicing deftly through the scaled neck, and the head fell down, rolling across the earth and splattering blood in random directions. Hanaru stared down at it with a mix of disgust and disappointment. That was _all?_ All too easy, again...

And on par, it happened just like that as Itachi came to stand beside her. "Hana-chan, I suggest you get your team away," he said, but then it occurred in a flash before he could tell her why: a lavender-colored smoke happened before their visions. She inhaled it by surprise when she never should have, but the damned stuff hit so fast and without warning. Everyone around her was coughing and collapsing. For her, her vision was blurring now just as she felt her limbs going numb and finally immobile.

The last thing she saw was the serpent's jaws opening and coming her way...

~o~

He knew it was too simplistic when he took off the demon's head as Yamato held him down. That was why he saw the bodily fluids of the great serpent coming to evaporate in the air, but just as he was going to warn everyone, the mist flew over their faces and spread quickly. Silently cursing, Itachi fell beside Hanaru as she did so, coughing with him. Behind him, the others were subjected to the same fate.

The numbing of their muscles and motor functions would last for awhile, but by the time they recovered, it would be too late, because the head of Orochimaru arose and outstretched _towards him and Hanaru..._

"SENSEI!"

Itachi heard himself roar her name as the great jaws opened and closed, swallowing her whole. _He devoured her...Hanaru...!_

When the lump in the creature's throat vanished, at the same time his neck reattached itself to the body as Yamato lost his hold on the wooden trap, Orochimaru laughed as he looked down upon the stricken group. "Don't worry, she is unharmed - for the time being. Now, I shall be leaving. However, I cannot promise that I will leave her intact in the end..."

"What are we waiting for?!" Hanabi shouted, activating her Byakugan. "Damn it all, the bastard's regenerated throughout his entire body! This vapor has paralyzed us all!"

"Of course, Hanabi-kun," the Sage in snake form hissed delightfully. "In fact, you will all be this way for the better part of two hours, and by this time, you will lose the trail." With that, his entire length covered by smaller snakes serving as scales began to mold with the earth beneath him, sinking into the surface and still cackling as he escaped with his prize intact. And there still lay the four reanimated, though wrapped and sealed, and they had to be gotten rid of. The only way was to have Orochimaru break it, but now he had Hanaru in his slimy hands. And they couldn't go after him in this condition.

Kabuto didn't even show up, which told them that he was elsewhere this time. _If we find him, I'll make him talk._

Yamato grunted as he fell onto his side, his body visibly quaking with the spasms that Itachi was now feeling in his own system. "Captain, he really came well-prepared this time."

"I should have jumped him with the Lightning Ball when I had the chance!" Daichu strained out, glaring in the direction the repulsive man-monster took his mistress.

Misaki glowered in his direction. "You idiot, that guy is one of the legendary Sannin! I agree with you, but we're only Genin compared to him! And the same goes for you, too, Hanabi!"

He considered interrupting them now, but when they were out of this situation, he would give them the lecture he was positive would involve their argument over their captured mentor. In the meantime, since Hanaru was a Jounin and elite warrior, she would endure whatever Orochimaru was to subject her to - but internally, he clenched in a place he wasn't able to identify.

 _Be strong, Hanaru. Lord Hokage won't leave you to that monster -_ I _won't leave you to him._

However, he was sure that her brother would explode and demand to go along with the rescue team once they had the location of the Snake Sannin's current hideaway and laboratory.

 **My God, Hanaru swallowed by Orochimaru, but not for the reason you think! ':O Reviews appreciated after the wait, and hope you all had a great Valentines Day.**


	10. A Damsel in Distress

**Halfway done with "The Shogun's Otome" and started a couple others, so that's why this took so longer than before. I'm so relieved to finally have this done.**

 **Hanaru's capture had to be handled with extreme care, because its importance is pivotal in finally showing the differences between her Genin team besides the very little bit in "Bamboo Woods", and I hope to God that no plot holes are present between this and that. :( I did that sequel in the day I was still new to all things Naruto.**

 **Long story short: Hanabi has excellent chakra control, but so does Misaki (if "Bamboo Woods" doesn't mention that), and yet it showed the Hyuga working solo on the tree length exercise like Naruto and his team did early on in Part One. And just look at their powers and jutsu expanded in this prequel...**

Chapter Nine

A Damsel in Distress

"Hanaru was captured by Orochimaru."

The way the Hokage stated it was plain and simple; beneath that was bubbling lava. The man had taken care of Hanaru when she was a child, therefore she was like a daughter to him. On top of that, he'd been her brother's sensei. He would waste no time sending out a rescue team of the best, there was everything known about Orochimaru - and how dangerous he was - but the only trouble was that they had no pinpoint on the snake's current hiding place. Which meant none of them were going back out tonight, and that meant Itachi, but he knew just the man whom he would ask the Hokage to send in his stead.

 _I could have gone myself, but look at us today. He paralyzed us with his serpent's venom - the kind in biological warfare. He absorbed it into his body that he developed an immunity of his own. With this and the immortality, he cannot be killed if you cut him in half in his true form._

It had been two days since the return to the Leaf Village, and while he had spent it with Yamato and Sai in the ANBU health facility, Team Eight was being cared for at the general hospital. "How soon can we go back to find Hanaru-sensei, Lord Hokage?" Hanabi demanded, face taut. "We don't even know where he took her."

"You're right, Hanabi," Kakashi agreed somberly. "As soon as we have the location, whether he is still in River Country or back in Sound. But for the day, you are all to recuperate. However, for Team Eight, you'll be given a substitute until Hanaru Uzumaki is retrieved." Itachi turned his head halfway to regard the reactions of the trio, and none of it was pleasant. It appeared that Misaki was more distraught than she'd been before, and now it was coming out into the open. Her brother looked at her calmly and irritably when previously he'd cursed himself for not acting fast, or against the Snake Sannin himself.

Misaki's eyes just about blared with righteous fire, bordering on burnished cinnamon. "So, we just sit and do nothing but wonder what the hell that bastard is doing to her?" she seethed.

Kakashi regarded her grimly. "I don't like this any more than you do, but what options do we have? And just like you made it clear: Orochimaru is one of the most vile, most powerful criminals in Leaf history, and a member of the inactive Akatsuki. I understand your frustration -"

"Frustration is an understatement, Lord Sixth," Daichu interrupted with a hard eye. "That snake swallowed Hanaru-sensei whole while we were all paralyzed, and Hanabi didn't see him coming with her Byakugan, which meant that he somehow used a distortion -" His mentioned teammate glared at him to shut up before she used her fist on him.

Itachi could not stay quiet any longer. "The lot of you - your sensei is in greater danger the longer you waste the Hokage's time vexing your sensitivity," he said through his teeth. Inwardly, he was just as impatient as they were. Kakashi's gaze on him spoke of silent gratitude, for his patience was just as short.

Misaki exhaled sharply. "He's right, guys. I'm not going to waste my time. I'd rather train with Naruto until I'm strong enough to get that slimeball!" she said, lifting her chin.

That was another issue to worry about: when Naruto learned his sister was taken by the rogue Sannin, he would lash out and demand that he'd go with the rescue unit, and Kakashi Hatake knew that very well. But right now: "You are all dismissed until we have a pinpoint. I promise you will receive your temporary sensei at dawn, the third training ground."

All three Genin turned their backs in unison, saying nothing, but the door slammed behind them. The sound had no effect on Itachi or the Hokage other than the echoing rattle of their eardrums. "This really is nothing we haven't seen before, Itachi," Kakashi said, given the walls were soundproofed. "But someone has to keep them on their toes until we get a lock on their teacher." The Uchiha turned his attention back to the silver-haired man, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. Something told him the man, his former captain, already knew WHO, but why he didn't dismiss Itachi was yet to be determined, only to become blatantly obvious in his mind before Kakashi-sama presented it with his own masked mouth.

 _I'm on his mind. I'm qualified to be the squad's instructor._

He had never been a teacher before, not that he wasn't aware that he was capable of the job, but to be put in Hanaru's position over _her_ trainees...he had his work cut out for him in terms of keeping them together in light of recent events.

~o~

 _She tried to get herself out of the slimy, meaty interior of the snake's body, and the putrescent stench of saliva and whatever he'd eaten had made her stomach roll inside. She tried once more to move, but her body for all its strength couldn't withstand the paralyzing venom in her system._

And I don't remember the last time I was captured. That one time I nearly was, and Naruto and team saved my skin. But this time...

 _Here was Hanaru Uzumaki, the legendary Explosive Force, in the belly of the beast that was Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin. In the time that passed, it seemed like an eternity, and she was still numb, unable to move a muscle. Half of her wished that she'd learned medical_ ninjutsu _from Lady Tsunade instead of just the basics, which only did so much._

 _Now she found herself regurgitated out the snake's mouth, and that was when darkness appeared before her vision. Hanaru spat in disgust at the stuff covering her face. She found her stomach was unable to take it anymore and vomited the contents through her mouth, onto the concrete which flew with dust particles into her face. She lay in a heap on her side, on the foul floor covered with dust and slime, stinking of rot entirely, when she heard a familiar voice over her head and froze on the spot._

 _"Welcome to my humble hideout, Hana-kun."_

 _They had to be in Sound, right? Or were they still in River Country somewhere? If she recalled, it was still Akatsuki territory whether the group was active or not as a whole. "Where are we now, scum?" Hanaru hissed, looking up at him and seeing that he reverted back to his human form. Long black hair fell on either side of his head, glowing yellow eyes peering down at her as if she were a mouse, which she had been momentarily before - and here now she was even so._

 _Orochimaru chuckled a bit. "Don't worry, little flower. We aren't too far away from home, or even from your last spot. But rest assured, the sooner the analysis is completed, the better. Kabuto, take care of her and see she is freshened up. Can't have her in this state now, can we...?"_

~o~

He wandered through the village as if in a daze. He thought he would run into any of Team Eight, but he had no such luck. He expected to see Shisui about, but still nothing. If he saw Naruto, he would say that he hadn't seen Hanaru - for now. Lying was what he loathed, but if Naruto would go off, then a rampage over his sister's abduction was the last thing their hands needed. Unless Kakashi would decide his former student was going on the mission.

It was as if he was cursed since he was helpless to keep Hanaru from being taken by the devil himself. To see her swallowed whole by the gaping jaws made him feel as though he was in an out-of-body experience that he never felt before. The woman he respected, dreamed of, subconsciously lit aflame when he was in her presence...she was in grave danger that he found himself fearing more for her than ever. He always feared for the life of Sasuke, those closest to him; he lost many comrades, he lost Izumi during the last war - but they never had anything beyond friendship - and now Hanaru, the woman he dreamed about and might have something that he was certain was there.

In other words, he couldn't afford to lose her. Not like this. _And not ever._

Something inside him cracked when he found himself outside the tea shop, his stomach rolling. He hadn't realized he was so stressed out more than he realized. _I'm not stressed_ raced in his mind more times than he could count. He hadn't been like this since a long time in coming. He bowed his head into the trash bin and released the contents. He was aware of the eyes on him and could imagine what the passerbys were thinking: the great Itachi Uchiha possibly stricken with an ailment that could pass amongst them. Hence why they scurried away from him, some couples taking their children away to avoid catching the malady. What they couldn't fathom was that his sickness was something much deeper than within his stomach.

Itachi was afraid of losing Hanaru. He'd known her a long time, but not in the same way her brother and his brother knew each other, along with their friends, and only one date. Then he thought giving her a gift would express it all when the truth was he had no idea what he was really doing. Romance was a new concept for him, and he really wanted to know if she wanted it with him.

He was not going to let regret take place if she was killed by Orochimaru before help arrived for her. But in the meantime, Itachi had to not let his fears get the best of him; he was also going to need more insight on his feelings without becoming some adolescent starved for affection.

It just so happened the right source presented itself - or rather _himself_ \- before his eyes.

"Now that's something I never thought I would see, and it almost made me lose my appetite," Jiraiya said, from his place at the table. Itachi stood up straight and stretched his back, groaning a little at the popping of bone and muscle. "Which leaves me three ideas: stress that you can't keep in any longer, fear you're unable to hide, or just simple sickness from overwork. Or maybe any combinations. I've been there myself, if you remember, Itachi."

Sighing, the Uchiha walked in and sat across from the retired, white-haired Toad Sage, who appeared to be in midst of his next novel. "Master Jiraiya," he answered, looking past the old man and forcing a smile before asking for his usual. "I returned from a mission, but let's keep it short that it's caused more for me to feel than I should conceal." Jiraiya got the hidden message, grimly agreeing.

"Wish I could offer more condolences if the rules didn't exist - or the nature of these missions," he said in a lower voice, "but is there a little detail I can know about?"

Truthfully? He knew just what to say, but he was going to lie and say it involved _someone_. "Actually, the mission isn't just what is troubling me. Rather it is someone." He looked the man square in the eye when the name left his lips and caused the other's to widen by a little fraction.

"Oh, yeah, how is the kid?" Jiraiya asked with a little smile. Behind them, the old lady was readying the sweets, but she was also prone to gossip.

"I may...have something more than just the feeling of an acquaintance or even a comrade," Itachi answered, drumming his fingers absently on the table surface. "Weeks ago, we had a dinner, but lately I have been wondering if, after all this time, that it shouldn't just be cordial or friendly. I've never known a good woman like her, although I am conflicted. She is too good for the life that I live, all the secrecy and darkness." _And when we get her back - I refuse to say IF, from the bottom of my heart - I need to know if it is truly something to set in stone, because you cannot plunge so easily. The end could be deeper than you imagined._

Jiraiya's eyes twinkled knowingly, and his answer wasn't what Itachi expected so blatantly, yet he was so glad that it was only the two of them discussing this.

"You're in love with her. I know it, Itachi. I know the feeling too well - except the woman of my affections didn't return them and punched me a hundred meters for it." However, despite the joke, there was a serious glint in Jiraiya's eyes.

~o~

She had been here for two days. She hadn't been mistreated, but the conditions were enough to make her fear for her own sanity. Starting with day one she revised as she sat upright on the slab, pulling her thin blanket around herself, looking ahead at the shadows that danced about as she reached to light up the candle on the table at the head of the bed.

Oh, the nerve to have the bastard _strip her down_ \- but leave her in her undergarments which were still dry somehow - while she was still under the effects of the venom! She was so going to kill Kabuto, and then the snake when she recovered her strength, but it seemed the spectacled guy read what she was thinking. "Don't bother plotting an escape, Hanaru," he'd said smoothly as he dropped her clothes into a bucket of water to wash himself. She had been laying on an operating table, but she wasn't tied down. Trying to struggle didn't help matters.

"Why not?" she'd growled. "Afraid I'll unleash my best trick?"

Kabuto had snorted. "Not exactly. In fact, just to be on the safe side..." He'd reached behind himself, pulling out a piece of paper she saw had **押** \- and her heart stopped only to start again. She couldn't ever panic, but now she lost the need to control it, as things had only gotten worse.

Kakashi and Jiraiya used to put that seal on her brother when he lost control of the Nine-Tails, almost allowing it to take over his personality, and the slapping of the paper seal to his forehead left him fatigued because his powers were suppressed. Now she was getting it, but for an entirely different reason. _I'm not even a_ Jinchuuriki! _I'm a prisoner for whatever he wants me for. I might not get out alive after all._

But here was her vow: he was not going to get any information out of her on her village if she had anything to say about it. When she told this to Kabuto as he slapped the thing onto her upper right thigh - an insult! - he merely chuckled.

"Don't worry, Hanaru. Lord Orochimaru won't ask such things from you, and he won't do anything you don't want him to." _Yet, you mean, you two-faced liar._

What she didn't expect afterwards was getting a room of her own. Or rather, a _barren cell_ of her own. There wasn't much besides a small closet of kimonos and _yukata_ in plain, simple colors like gray, white and pale blue. She felt her lips curl over her teeth. To even LOOK at those damned things made her think about something Orochimaru had on his mind she didn't really know about. It sickened her to think about it...

She didn't see Orochimaru since she was put in this room, and she didn't even trust herself to get out on her own lest a hidden trap would be sprung. Although it didn't seem any seals were around the door entrance on the outside. Hanaru was given food and water like she deserved, but here she was like a flower underground that was going to wither due to no light. She hoped that the ANBU or any of her comrades would somehow find her trace soon.

Even as she would fall asleep the first couple nights, the faces of those she cared about appeared before her closed eyelids.

 _Naruto._

 _Hinata._

 _Kakashi._

 _Jiraiya._

 _Hanabi, Daichu, and Misaki..._

 _...Itachi._

 **Another matter that I really wanted to be VERY careful with was the fact that Itachi realizes he has feelings for Hanaru, after the obvious attraction, but he won't dive into it right away. He takes things with careful precision. Which will continue in the next chapter - and thus more drama in the making.**

 **I also feel I may have a solution to the problem with Team Eight I mentioned earlier.**

 **Reviews appreciated after the long wait. :)**


	11. Lotus Pool

**Chapter is named for the Derek Fiechter composition. I'm almost done with a new fic called "The Dress and the Big Day", based off one of my favorite bridal shows.**

 **It was SOOOOO hard to think of how Hanaru endured captivity, just as much as it is for Itachi to have to substitute for her Genin as well as contemplate where he would stand with Hanaru once he got her back...**

 **Halfway near the end of the chapter has a disturbing element I never thought I'd bring into the story, so proceed with caution and grab something that will calm your fraying nerves afterwards.**

Chapter Ten

Lotus Pool

At least there was a bathroom facility in the room. She was free to clean up, linger as long as she wanted, and _that_ she was blessed with. The body wash, shampoo and conditioner were sweet and exotic with lilies and jasmines, maybe. She knew which was what simply based on smell. Sometimes she was teased with having the Inuzuka sense of smell.

She didn't even get her old clothes back, which made her so angry and livid. That son of a bitch - both of them - thought that they would demean her by giving her something from _them_ as if she were some helpless little girl! If she didn't have the seal in her flesh, she would give him her fist and all the chakra pressure she would. That meant she had very little options if she wanted to get out of here. She could use her fists all she wanted, but that meant they both could still overpower her.

 _But I HAVE to earn their trust somehow if I am to get out of here. I could kill them both myself while I am here, but first things first: I need to find what could be useful..._

Kabuto would be coming very soon to give her breakfast, but beforehand, maybe she could test the waters now and see if there were the barriers in the doorway. She had to hurry. Wearing a pale blue _yukata_ with darker shaded blossoms loosely tied over a black chemise, Hanaru took a few steps forward in her sandals she _did_ get to keep, hesitating for a moment before putting her fingertips to the layered, swirling stone, because then if she was shocked, she would pull her fingers back and then lay down to recover for some time.

Nothing happened.

She then laid her whole palm flat against the stone. Still nothing. Which meant that there was nothing after all. _Unless the traps are outside the hallway._

It was then that she sensed the presence coming closer, and it sure was unpleasant if not vile and nasty. She stepped backwards and then turned on her heel, bolting to the bathroom to hide behind the cracked door just as the other person entered, and that voice came into the air. "Hana-chan, you're still not ready?" Kabuto called out, figuring out that she was definitely freshening up "still", but did he already guess it was just a guise to avoid him?

"Not at all," she answered.

"Well, be sure to hurry up. Lord Orochimaru has really been looking forward to seeing your face again. It's been two days. Don't you think you still want to keep your strength up rather than being cooped up in here all this time?" What he wasn't going to say was that the snake needed her about now for his schemes, and that she knew.

Hanaru, as much as she hated it, also knew he was right. A ninja should never let his or her strength go to waste by hiding away. Perhaps she would have a limb broken with her powers sealed away, but she could still feel the strength in her bones and muscles. _And I can find out what he is up to._

Taking a breath, she opened up the door and stepped out. Kabuto's spectacled eyes roamed over her form. It was just bland and examining, but a little interested. Nothing like the way his master looked at her. But that did not mean she had a right to trust this guy, except she might be able to use that to her advantage rather than waste her time sulking over her predicament.

"You're not going out there without eating," Kabuto told her, giving her the dish which had a couple rice balls wrapped in seaweed, a few sushi pieces covered with fish and soy, and a cup of green tea. She was really hungry...but on second thought, what if something was in there that she didn't know about? Kabuto seemed to know what she was thinking _again._ "You don't have to be so suspicious. I would never poison you, and neither would Lord Orochimaru."

"How the hell should I trust you?" she spat. "If you won't poison me, what about DRUGGING me so I don't know what's going on?"

He snickered, putting the tray down on the table beside the door. "Believe me, he would say you are too...precious to damage in any way. However..." His eyes hardened as his voice.

"...if you so much as try anything fancy, he won't hesitate. Or if he won't, then I will."

Hanaru snorted, forcing a grin. "You both are underestimating the Uzumaki. Even if I'm sealed off, I got more up my sleeve than you think. I'd rather be dead than used against my own people," she stated, unafraid and rushing with pleasure at her bravery.

Kabuto simply regarded her crossly, saying nothing else and turning his back to her. "Just hurry up and eat. I'll be back in forty-five minutes. I'm taking you to him."

She scoffed and picked up the tray, bringing it back with her to the bed, sitting down to enjoy the food since she clearly had no choice and no means to detect anything suspicious, though she couldn't smell anything that didn't belong. Even if there was a hidden potion to knock her out, it had to be something scentless. But Hanaru was starving so much that she wolfed it all down in a heartbeat.

~o~

Jiraiya figured out he was _in love_ with his goddaughter, Hanaru Uzumaki, but Itachi had never felt so entangled. Love was a powerful word to take the plunge on. And he was on the verge of collapsing internally from sickness, weak in the stomach and heart in one.

Itachi Uchiha could not believe he was admitting it, but she made him feel like another man he didn't recognize in himself anymore. Everything in his life had become uncontrollable ever since she was taken away from him, from her brother and friends, and from her students. He could never go a day without thinking about her, never go a night without dreaming of her, or even looking forward to her company. Now she had been snatched away before their very eyes...

 _In love..._

His heartbeat continued to rise as he felt his skin pores throb and threaten to open to release the salty liquid, similar to a long-resting volcano ready to erupt in its vengeance. It burst when a familiar boisterous voice rounded in their senses.

"PERVY SAGE!"

"Naruto! Geez, careful in scaring an old man enjoying someone else's company!" Jiraiya exclaimed, though he was laughing. "But how's my favorite apprentice doing tonight?" His face fell at Naruto's silence, though Itachi had a suspicion it was more than that. Turning around, he saw it. The blond's face was taut and ablaze in the eyes.

"Did you hear that _nee-chan_ is missing?!"

 _He figured it out. His sister is missing._ Itachi allowed his eyes to widen as his sign of surprise to hide his lack thereof. Even now, Naruto couldn't see past any disguises. Behind him, Jiraiya jumped up from his seat, some papers of his story flipping and laying flat after the impact settled. "What? Where did you hear this?"

Naruto's answer came out in harsh, hastened breaths. "I heard Hanabi talking about it when I was bringing her sister back home. She and her squad were in the hospital the last two days, but Hanaru was missing. I found out about this just now," he said through his teeth, eyes red around the edges which then turned to lay on _him._

"Itachi, did you know about this?" Naruto demanded heatedly.

"No," he lied calmly, without a second's beat. "Have you really confirmed this with Hanabi-chan?"

Naruto's patience snapped at his cool. "You're seriously calm about all this when my sister, the woman you had one dinner with and had known for the longest time, is missing - taken by that snake!" he hissed, and the word "snake" piqued Jiraiya's attention. The name of the creature reflected darkly in his eyes: _Orochimaru._

Old teammate, rival and friend at the same time, and someone he gave up long ago hunting to kill himself for everything he did - including killing their teacher, the Third Hokage.

"I'm going to Kakashi-sensei now to demand that I be one of those he will send out, if he hasn't already," Naruto announced, turning on his heel, but Itachi was on his feet in an instant, and his hand lashed out to grab the orange jacket sleeve.

"Naruto, that is not wise."

"'Wise!" The _Jinchuuriki_ jerked his arm free. "What is wise, Itachi? To waste time while my sister is in trouble, or to go out now and hunt?" Silence was the answer he received. He might be a war hero like the Uchiha and his own sister, but some aspects about him would either never change or need more time to. "Or is there no mark on where he has her?"

Itachi allowed a small smile to show. Jiraiya seemed to stay back because he was no longer to tell his old student what to do. "I'm pleased you saw reason. It's likely that there is no spot at this time, but since I am...in the Black Ops," he said in a hushed voice, "you won't hear anything from me unless you want to put our operation in jeopardy as well as yourself before we have a chance to rescue your sister."

Naruto got the picture, but his clenched jaw was still present. "I don't like this any more than you do," Itachi said, losing his patience, "but will you promise to not go off rashly?"

The blond nodded bitterly. "But what about Hanabi and her teammates? They're without a sensei, so they need someone until we rescue my sister," he mumbled, sharing a glance with Master Jiraiya, and then his eyes widened at the same time a sweet smell got Itachi's nostril attention. The dumplings arrived.

"Lord Hokage already did pick someone suitable," he said, sitting back down and accepting his dish, thanking the old lady who then turned her attention back to Naruto and asked if he would like anything, to which he enthusiastically said yes without thinking, making Jiraiya sigh as he was sure the young man had been at the ramen stand before this.

Naruto's would be on Itachi, for it was the least he could do. Now it brought him back to what he and Jiraiya had been talking about. Since Naruto was with Hinata, who was Hanaru's dearest friend and Hanabi's sister, he would know more about the subject than Itachi. This wasn't something to just push aside out of fear. He was surrounded by two men who'd been there and done that.

"Naruto...I might have fallen in love with your sister at a time like this."

~o~

"If you're on your best behavior, Lord Orochimaru might let you see the indoor training grounds, let you have all the privacy you need - or if you feel the need to go up against him," Kabuto said with a sneaky glint that radiated through those glasses. _Or is it from the light? This bastard is hard to read._

She snorted, lifting her chin without looking at him. "Did you ever think to tell your master that I have no interest in any promise of power he could offer me?"

This made him frown. "He would no doubt find that something which could always be changed with more...persuasion," he said, as if it was something he had seen before. Perhaps he had; after all, he was Orochimaru's loyal little rat. She would love to see the day he would swallow the rat whole when his usefulness ran out. Just what the most brutal and powerful did when they got what they needed.

These walls were cold as steel, the air matching. She kept her eyes ahead and her head high. What was interesting to see in this cold walk? There was nothing but darkness hiding what monstrous secrets the monster himself prided on, away from the world. Those lives he wasted, for this vain and foolish cause of wanting to live forever and gather all the jutsu in the world. To make himself some kind of _living god?!_ To give life - _the Reanimation Jutsu_ \- and to take it in all those experiments he conducted, then to those who crossed him...

They had walked for quite some time before they paused outside a doorway. "We're here," Kabuto said softly, pausing on one end and allowed her to be on the other, at a safe distance, the entrance for the activities within in between. He was the first to sneak a peek. His face was expressionless. "He's making progress, it seems."

"With what?" Hanaru hissed. When she got no answer but a twitching corner of the mouth, she snuck her face as far as she could go and hitched a breath at the heinousness in its glory.

There on an operating table, strapped down, was a man with a sheet over the lower half of his body - and _blood_ staining the crisp white. It was right over the middle of his abdomen to the end of it... _right between his legs._ Hanaru slapped a hand over her mouth. What was he doing...?

Orochimaru's voice slithered through the air like a blade cleanly tearing flesh. "You may come closer, child. It won't bite."

Hanaru obeyed and picked up the front of her short robe even though it only reached the middle of her calves. "What abomination are you working on now, snake?" she seethed. She stopped several feet away from the table with the body which she was sure was still alive, having undergone some kind of surgery, as if it were a real germ she had to keep away from.

"Watch your language with Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto warned from his position in the entranceway, but his master simply chuckled and waved off the insult before turning his attention back to Hanaru who glared murder at him.

"You are familiar with the concept of...incubation, are you, Hana-kun?"

She wasn't sure she heard herself gasp in a horror which pushed the boundaries that the Edo Tensei gave her during the war along with the Infinite Tsukuyomi on her friends and comrades. _Oh, gods...you demon...you..._

~o~

 _Naruto...I might have fallen in love with your sister at a time like this._

His own words continued to work against him. But since the one mentioned was in front of him, might as well confirm if it was sincere unlike when he held back against Izumi and other girls. He didn't hold back with Hanaru Uzumaki. He'd been told by his mother that love was the most wonderful feeling, and if you saw her, had more in common than you thought, worked together in harmony, it was meant to be.

This included the person always being in your thoughts at night and daylight hours. Even an unexpected dream you never saw coming. And those really meant to be called each other "beloved".

His father's part included that a relationship and marriage to follow were both matters to be taken seriously. Once you were bound, there was no going back. Infidelity was out of the question even if one tired of the other. Not that he would ever stoop to that level. Hanaru was too good for that, just as she was too good for him as he was captain of the Black Ops. As she made loud and clear, the darkness and secrecy - and with her, she was taken away by Orochimaru. The man he hated most, the one Jiraiya and Naruto loathed the most; he couldn't think of anything better for the entire village who knew who he was.

"If you love my sister then," Naruto said through his teeth, "then you are going with me to save her. The better the odds!"

"Good luck if you are granted it, kid," Jiraiya mumbled, his face tighter than before as he was still thinking about the idea that his protégée's sister was in the clutches of his greatest rival. His relationship with Orochimaru was no different than it was between Itachi's brother and Naruto. _If Sasuke and Naruto ended the way these two did..._

The "what if" thought was too morbid to dwell on.

Now the attention was back on him and Hanaru. He listened as they both said the same thing: they would support him in the sense that when they got her back safe and sound, they would help him get with her, but if he so much as hurt Hanaru, they would be on him so fast the Sharingan wouldn't see it coming.

He would hold them to it. Now he noticed how it was getting late, and he had to get back to the house by the lake. When he got there, Sasuke was in their favorite training spot. Working himself to exhaustion as always. But when he looked up at his _aniki_ whom he hardly saw anymore, there was no smile, but he was clearly aware that Hanaru was missing. "How did you find out?" Itachi asked.

"Who do you think?" Sasuke replied. _Naruto._ "Her kids are going on about it, but it was Hanabi doing the most of it." He shook his head in utter disgust. "Her being in the coils of the snake...it makes me sick. I know loser is going off for sure."

"He did, _otouto_ ," Itachi answered, walking with him back to the house. "In fact, he probably is on his way to the Hokage's office at this very minute."

Sasuke grunted. "Hn, won't be surprised he gets thrown out. But that's his sister; he would kill anyone who puts a finger on her - just like he would for the rest of us." The elder Uchiha brother gave a slight smile in agreement. Although despite his brother's compliment, he knew the younger better.

"If that's how you see it, tell me how you feel about Hanaru." If there was going to be a future with her, and if his family would accept her that way, he needed to hear it from his baby brother.

Surprisingly, there was no venom, but Sasuke was ever prone to insult. "She's worse than Naru-dobe, in my personal opinion...but you like her, and I don't want to see you cut up if something happens to her." Then a smirk tugged the corner of his mouth.

"Do you have a crush on her, big brother?"

"Sasuke!" Of all the things, he never expected _that_ to come out of his younger sibling's mouth. "It's nothing like that."

His brother really was bent on keeping it up. "Sure, that is what I have heard others say," he teased, a side that was rare nowadays. "But it's a shame you didn't have your chance to tell her yourself. I hope you make up for it when you're sent out to rescue her..."

He had to end it here and now before it went too far. "Sasuke, it would be wise to end it right here," he warned, and that just about did it at the same time their home came into view. They could smell Mikoto's cooking and heard her exclamations as she heard the door open. She was right in front of them in a flash.

"My boys! Itachi, have you heard about Hanaru?" Her eyes were wild and flashing with worry. He nodded and let himself be taken into her arms, her hold nearly breaking every bone in his body. _Mother, are you really going to kill me tonight?!_ "This is horrible! I really love her, and if something happens -"

"Mikoto, don't worry yourself to death," Fugaku's voice cut in. "The Hokage is going to have his best after her once they know where that snake is hiding." His eyes darkened. "I don't even want to think about what he could be doing..." And that was a thanks to his father for adding to the thoughts in his mind. "That girl was vital to our victory in the last war. Think about the worst that could happen. Itachi, I was just considering she would be a fine match for you." His wife turned on him with a sharper glare.

"Fugaku, you are honestly bringing that up at a time like this."

"Because you know it well," he responded. "She's a good woman in name, strength and reputation, so to lose her would be a great misfortune to us all." He looked in the direction of his eldest son, who in turn announced he was not hungry much anymore, worrying his mother.

"Itachi," Mikoto started, but he would hear none of it.

"I'm sorry, Mother. I'll come back soon," was all he could say. He wanted to hear nothing else of Hanaru in the manner his father was speaking of. Why couldn't the man see her as more than just a war hero and powerful ninja? Why wouldn't he consider seeing her the way HE did? Mikoto? Shisui? The others close to her?

Sasuke called out to him, but he chose to ignore it. He needed to be alone. He was aware that he'd pushed his mother and brother away, his father was annoyed, but for now, he earned his solitude.

Itachi found himself in the gardens in the back, surrounding the water lily pond which glowed as brightly as the white moonflowers that were among the other flora. He was accompanied by serene nature, a breath of fresh air which he never paid attention to all evening, and exhaled as he collapsed by the side of the water bed which was many times smaller than the lake. The lotuses were as vivid as the moon when it wasn't even shining. He remembered the nights when the moon-like _yūgao_ glowed, and besides the momentous Nine-Tails attack, one was the night the war came to an end - which was Naruto's birthday, none other.

Why did they have to come out on a night like tonight?

To make matters a little worse, the pink ones were also in bloom since it was springtime. It made him remember the meanings of the blossom. Other than resembling the moon in its name, they were means to represent femininity and to communicate with chakra forces, as well as to signify...

 _Dreams of love._

Itachi heard himself gasp at both the realization as he happened to find himself staring at _Hanaru's face_ in place of his reflection in the water...and a scene flashed before his vision in the water.

 **Definitions of incubate:**

 **1\. to sit upon (eggs) for the purpose of hatching.**

 **2\. to hatch (eggs), as by sitting upon them or by artificial heat.**

 **3\. to maintain at a favorable temperature and in other conditions promoting development, as cultures of bacteria or prematurely born infants.**

 **I refuse to spoil good surprises, but if the implied concept disturbs anyone, then accept my humble apologies. Though if you're brave enough, please continue the story. Stay tuned for the next.**


	12. The Seeds Planted

**I'm so relieved to almost be done with "The Shogun's Otome", but unsure of how many chapters that will have. However, this one has a few more as well. :D**

 **A verse from Anastacia's "I Dreamed You" have been worked into here once again. So has "The Last". :')**

Chapter Eleven

The Seeds Planted

 _The Academy bell rang as the sun was setting, drawing the day to an end for another. He stood underneath the tree with the swing. This had been living and breathing since the first days of this building's birth. Although only one child at a time could sit and swing without breaking any of the mighty branches._

 _He was watching the flock of children, all striving to one day be powerful Shinobi. It was a dream they chose on their own or was simply by birthright. His brother was the same, but he wanted to be a ninja because he was proud to be an Uchiha, to be HIS younger brother and their father's son. He wanted nothing more than to show he was worth wearing their crest on his back._

 _Itachi, on the other hand, was proud himself, but all his life, it hadn't been his choice despite it being an honor to protect his village and help prevent another Great War from breaking out again. Everything he saw as a young child, he made sure his precious little brother didn't witness. These children he watched would never know the horrors he had seen..._

 _And then, the one he waited for was one of the last to leave, along with the blond boy with spiky hair, in orange and blue, whom_ otouto _glared in annoyance at, but then he saw him, and his face lit up._ "Aniki!" _he yelled out._

 _He smiled as the young boy ran to him, throwing his arms around his waist like he did as a younger child, lighting his day. "Sasuke," he answered, "let's walk home together."_

 _"Okay!"_

 _But just as they started to walk, Sasuke taking his hand and tugging him forward, the name of "Naruto" filled his ears. The child who was the vessel of the Kyuubi was the blond he just saw, whom the Sandaime asked of him to keep an eye on in person, and it turned out that there was another watching him: a girl who appeared to be older than the young boy, aged around ten or eleven. She was in a dark blue shirt with navy sweatpants,_ _her golden hair in two pigtails so long that they reached the end of her back. Naruto Uzumaki didn't glance back at her, because it would appear that he knew nothing of her, nor did he realize that someone was also keeping an eye on him._

 _There was a smile on the girl's face, but it didn't reach her eyes. She wanted to talk to him, to walk up to him, but she held back as if it was best she did nothing at all. Itachi was intrigued but baffled. This girl...who was she? If she knew him, why did she not go to him?_ She must be his sister, or at least a blood relative. Lord Hokage knows something, but is it my place to know?

 _It was then that her eyes shifted in his direction - blue meeting black. Blue as the waters of the lake near the Uchiha district. Itachi didn't know if he made a noise or not, because he never saw such eyes, or at least THAT shade of blue directly, in his life. He allowed his eyes to roam over the rest of her face, taking in creamy skin with whiskered cheeks - just like Naruto's - that tinged pink, telling of an obvious infatuation. He tore his gaze away and insisted that they start walking home._

 _Sasuke frowned up at him, keeping his elder brother's larger hand in his own. "Itachi, why were you acting so weird?"_

 _"I don't know," he answered honestly. "But do you know who that girl was?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow._

 _"I don't know who she is, Itachi. But what is she to you?"_

 _He had no answer, but little did he know that unknown girl who knew Naruto Uzumaki would one day change the boy's life and Itachi Uchiha's as well as their people's forever._

~o~

He did not know what had just happened. Was it a heat of the moment, or was it simply fate that caused this _vision_ to flash before his eyes?

That one day he picked Sasuke up from the school, the day he saw Naruto - the obvious hatred between them being the old days compared to now - was the very first day he saw Hanaru Uzumaki, when she watched her little brother from afar before they even met, when Lord Third kept them separate for a time.

She _looked_ at him, blushed, but said nothing. She was nervous and embarrassed to approach him. She knew who he was but didn't throw herself at him. All of which meant one thing. He gazed ahead at the white flowers overpowering the rest around him, blinding his vision but opening it in a way his bloodline never did.

His pounding heart and racing blood forced two perfect tears to roll down his cheeks, hitting the grass at his knees.

At that moment, he was finished with his many questions when the answer had been in front of him all along. This had gone on all their lives. Hanaru Uzumaki had been in love with him forever, when he never paid her mind - or so he thought, when his closed eyes saw more than he - but she had more restraint than any girl he knew. Her feelings never changed in the years that passed. She saw him as important as her brother, friends and village were to her - but it was also something else entirely.

 _How could I have not noticed her - or rather, how could I have forgotten that one, brief glimpse? I saw her only when she became nothing but a valuable ally..._

He knew one reason he kept a woman at a distance, because of losing friends and comrades, but she survived this long. Now it was put to a greater test when she was in the clutches of one of his greatest targets, an enemy of the entire nation. If he found Orochimaru himself, he would make the serpent bastard pay with his life.

Itachi stood up then and there as the deliciously soft wind picked up. Some of the scented flowers reached his nostrils. It was poetic and traditional, very sugar-coated but so true. He never had anything sweet in his life besides the dumplings from the tea shop, his baby brother when he was born, but now came the most exciting but dangerous challenge the Uchiha heir and youngest ANBU Black Ops captain ever faced.

"Hanaru," he whispered aloud when she wasn't here, but he wished he possessed the power of telepathy so she would hear him, "you've been in love with someone like me for a lifetime. It hasn't changed now. I spent all this time trying to understand when it was in front of me all along. I am more of a coward than I realized I was. The day I truly noticed you was during the war, but long ago beforehand was the day I saw you under the tree, the day I retrieved my brother and you simply watched yours. Wanting to go to him, wanting to give him the love a sister would. I knew that all too well, but I didn't know how to approach you then. Even if I spent days on the field, I knew not how to speak to a girl I didn't know." He closed his eyes.

"You were and _are_ my destiny, with the way you have made me feel. I wish I knew how to explain this, but nothing like this is as elaborate as a field report or intelligence on the enemy. But when I saw you take as many a foe out with a single powerful blow, you had me. I was so amazed that you took my breath away. Hanaru, I know so much about you that I know you are the one. We need each other like the stars need their sky, the waters and earth the rain to flourish and nourish, a bird its wings, the day the sun, the night the moon...and the air we breathe."

He hesitated with his next words. "And that one night to follow, I dreamed of you, your beauty, your confidence, showing yourself to me in a way I never dared. But I could not work my nerve to speak to you afterwards. I needed to sort it through, and then I thought a gift would be my means to express rather than words...but you returned it without telling me yourself. You thanked me in simply a note, but could not accept. You couldn't face me. I wanted so much to ask you why you did it, because Shisui implied you were only playing hard to get, although I believe I understand now that you are gone..."

His words could very much have been carried off by the wind to wherever she was now.

He was back in his room, having snuck in through his own window after picking the lock. Now he was right before the treasure that lay on his desk, the chain at every angle but untangled. The lustrous blue gem glowed in the darkness. This gift she returned without a good reason, but now he understood. _She wanted me, but could not peer through me well enough. I am at fault; I don't allow myself to be seen. She has witnessed plenty, but none of the atrocious things I have committed._

Itachi looked up at the window, at the sky streaked with gray and no stars twinkling.

"My _aoibara_ , my _koishii_ ," he hissed, closing his fingers around the pendant, "I am going to find you and save you, and the snake which took you from me will face my wrath."

~o~

 _Incubation...that means..._

"What have you done to this man?" Hanaru spat, locking eyes with him from afar. He was on the other side of the table while she was still feet away. The poor soul bleeding and still under, still alive and well, was caught in the middle of the heated debate she was not ashamed of starting. She knew what he meant, but she wanted to hear it if it would kill her.

Orochimaru continued to smile. "Haven't I just made it obvious, dear woman? Incubate means to hatch and lay eggs, so the math shouldn't have been hard to decipher." His yellow eyes flashed with a perversion that put sex-related lust to shame. "I've implanted a certain important part of the female's body within the male's. I have been conducting this experiment for some time now, with a forty percent success rate thus far. Chances could improve with much more time and research, given you must be aware of the extremely dangerous risks that come since the male body cannot withstand such a strenuous process." Another twinkle, more subtle but still noticeable.

"Of course, certain animal males are capable of carrying offspring, such as the pipefish -"

"- seahorse and the seadragons," Hanaru interrupted. "I do know all of this. But you think you can do that with a human male? As you said, the risks are high for father and child unlike _mother_ and child. What are you doing? Looking to start a family and need me as the egg donor?" It made her stomach drop when that idea came to mind just as she was saying it aloud. She really thought she was going to pass out when the Snake Sage stifled his laughter as if it was a damned good joke she told him.

"You are on par, Hana-kun, but not exactly. I'm covered in the egg department, but what I need mainly is your chakra DNA. Besides the legendary Rinnegan, the Hyuuga's Byakugan and the Uchiha's Sharingan, your Uzumaki genes are thusly related to the late First Hokage's Wood Technique. Some people do not have your tenacious life-force, nor could they get to carry on the most powerful of clan lines, but specifically, the females of your side can do the job of outbreeding just as well. Which is why I have chosen you instead of your brother, the Nine-Tails brat. I intend to create a powerful race that the world will cower before..."

His lips stretched on either side of his face, leering like the demon from hell that he was. The sight made her clench her fists at her sides at that as well as the blood on the wretch's middle.

In other words, in short: Orochimaru was planning something so grotesque that her family's genes were needed to carry on whatever jutsu he possessed inside of him, then instill the seeds into the body of a _man_ rather than a woman so the breed would grow, but why? She felt like she knew too much more than she needed. She had to ask more, but her body was going weak right now. This was happening so fast. _But I must..._

"Why a male and not a female? Why waste all your time implanting a womb into a man when you are aware -?" Hanaru rounded fiercely on Kabuto when he dared to cut her off and remind her of her manners, but his master simply waved it off as he was used to this.

"Well, that, my dear, isn't an answer that I have just yet. I can't really decide until I reach the end. You know enough as it is. But soon your role will come into play. In the meantime, since I don't need you right now -" He looked past her shoulder. "- Kabuto, will you take her to the training rooms until I call back? Our guest really must keep her strength up, but don't kill each other," he said jokingly. "I have no use of a dead captive or a lost right hand."

~o~

Now that Itachi was certain about his feelings and more determined than ever to find his beloved, then to bring her home safely so he could ask her without a moment to lose if they were to have a future - and that included his within the Black Ops - that left to deal with her Genin team the following morning. He was out of ANBU uniform, kept away from his duties, so Shisui was going to substitute for him, and he trusted his cousin with his fiber.

What he witnessed in the trees was far from Kakashi's definition of teamwork in the absence of their teacher.

"Hanabi, you just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?! Now everyone knows Hanaru-sensei is in danger! They're in such a panic because they love her as much as they love Naruto!" This was followed by a great gust of wind that targeted the Hyuuga who in turn emitted her rotations and sent the user's jutsu back onto her, sending Misaki flying back into the air only to be caught by her brother who glared daggers at Hanabi, just like the daggers that he was ready to throw at the brunette girl, doused with fire.

Hanabi sniffed when she ceased her rotation, hair mussed and eyes wild. "Why not? People would have found out even if we never said anything. I didn't like it any more than you do!"

"What you did was still stupid, Hanabi!" Daichu returned, readying his fists, then turned to fix his glower on his sister who huffed and nodded, thinking she was off the hook. "And as for you, sister, you're doing nothing but taking it out on us both like a show-off. You may want to be Sensei's best, but this isn't the right way."

They were coming to blows over their sensei being missing. He had to agree with Daichu, but like the boy said just now, he wished he was strong enough to keep Orochimaru from taking away their mistress. Despite his sister saying that the snake was one of the Shinobi of legend, rogue or not. Although now she dropped that brave and angry shell, showing a much more furious and savage, frustrated interior that she took it out on anyone in her path - such as her own teammate and brother.

It seemed poor Daichu-san was caught in the middle, keeping himself more in check. Although he wasn't going to last. Itachi had to make himself known. He stood in front of the young trainees in a flash. All three stood at attention like soldiers awaiting their commander's orders.

"This petty squabbling is going to end on my watch." His voice was as low and cold as it could get. These students were under the wing of the woman he loved as much as his brother, his family and those he protected, but on another level, and he was going to do this favor for her by making sure this thread between these three wouldn't snap.

"I-Itachi Uchiha," Misaki whispered, brown eyes wide. "Are you...going to be our substitute?"

She was clearly honored and intimidated at the same time. "Yes. But as long as I am here, I will not let you three fight amongst each other. I understand your anger individually. Misaki, it is not wise to take your anger out on your own friends and comrades - especially when they are on your own team. Daichu, do not hit yourself when you know you did the best you could. And Hanabi, remove that stick from yourself and be nicer."

Another man would say the phrase "stick up the ass", but he was too subdued for that. However, he had gotten through to them. Daichu was relieved he had help calming his fired up sister and teammate. Misaki hated being told what to do, but if she wanted her favorite teacher back, she had no choice but to listen. Hanabi had a fiercer fire that reminded him she would continue doing what she did best no matter what he said.

 _If that is the case, she will know what_ genjutsu _feels like if she hasn't experienced it already._ He had no intention to cause her severe trauma, but to teach her a lesson in his own way, if that meant risking a complaint from her family. It wasn't like he would use the Mangekyo on her.

 **I would have gotten this out earlier, but we ordered from Jack in the Box, the food hit the spot, and I was so tired I took a nap. XD**

 **REVIEW PLEASE. :'D Itachi realizes his feelings, Hanaru learns what Orochimaru is doing, and her Genin are against each other. But now he is here to keep them from killing each other - but is Hanabi going to be the one to give him and her teammates hell? She really is a little troublemaker.**


	13. Hunt for the Demon's Lab

**If the revelation of Orochimaru's experiments in the last chapter didn't make you uncomfortable, things are gonna get worse in this one.**

Chapter Twelve

Hunt for the Demon's Lab

A month had passed since she came here.

And what she endured was macabre and surreal, too nightmarish to be real. She lived in Orochimaru's world, without help coming for her, and she was starting to lose hope. She found herself struggling in the first week in regards of the seal keeping her from gaining the reserves she needed for her signature fist. That meant dealing with Kabuto while his master was in that accursed laboratory, subjecting poor men from every village to their doom.

The spectacled bastard wasn't even skilled in _taijutsu_ or _genjutsu_ , but damn it, he was in the same field as Lady Tsunade and Sakura. And if he needed to get physical, she would spot him with those damned food pills. She tried not to laugh at how he was weaker than you would think. Getting charged up on something artificial was typical and addicting.

It was so hard to keep up. And if she could perform her signature, shadow clones were a diversion until her real self gave the final, semi-fatal blow. This time she had to rely on her body alone, without her reserves. Her body would usually recover, but cut off from her power, she was going to take a hell of a while longer to recuperate. She cursed both the snake and his little gray rat for doing this to her.

 _This means I have to stop fighting if I want to get out intact. But damn it, I have no one to break the seal. I can't even do it myself. And it's not like Kabuto or the snake will do it if I ask nicely._

Which meant she was stuck here with vulnerable bones and muscles that would still break even if she continued like this. She was going to get herself killed, just like Kabuto taunted her at the end of the week. He made her want to kill him, but when she threw him a series of shuriken, he just dodged them. They were in the indoor training grounds when this happened.

During the second week, she found herself in the lab, but for a medical examination that she really had no choice but to participate in. The samples from every part of her body Orochimaru took - even when she was on her period! _But at least he gave me what I needed to stop the flowing._

Although she wound up nearly traumatized when she was subjected to a repulsive form of violation when his TONGUE slithered up her leg to take the blood off her skin, and she had to swing a kick at him before he got any further to _touch that spot directly_ where the red liquid was coming from. "Put your nasty-ass tongue back where it belongs!" Hanaru growled aggressively as she locked her fiery blue gaze with his perverted yellow one.

He chuckled and licked his lips. "No need to get feisty, Hana-kun. But I admit, your blood tastes better than I anticipated."

"Pervert!" Like hell she was going to let him enjoy this.

That was when Kabuto chose to come in and give her a strike to the face that sent her sprawling onto the cold, hard ground, shattering medical instruments everywhere. The impact burned her face and made her flesh literally crawl. He opened his mouth to threaten her life, making her hate him even more than before - but no more than she hated his master - before Orochimaru barked at him to stand down. "Laying a hand on the guest is something I will not tolerate," he hissed coldly. _Oh, ha, ha, the man who killed the Third Hokage, nearly brought MY village down and kidnapped me is defending me. That's so funny._

"She should show you some respect, Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto stated, still glowering at her as she stood up and returned the look to him.

"Well, if the flower doesn't like it, then I promise I won't do it again."

That was an empty promise, she was sure, just to be safe. But as the week passed, he followed through and didn't repeat the action. She was sure he did something perverse similar to this with any of his other victims besides her.

During that week, she did get to see the most grotesque things besides the one man he experimented on, transplanted the womb into his anatomy. And she could imagine how her fellow Shinobi would take it when they found out what she'd seen. Though she was certain Kakashi would want to keep this within the topmost secret records so that there was no further panic among civilians. She would have asked it herself if she had to, because this would cause nightmares for years if not months.

She actually saw one _pregnant man_ in labor, and another who was in the condition but far behind him on the due date. Orochimaru was delivering, with Kabuto helping him, and there was so much blood. The problem was that the man wouldn't give birth the same way a woman would, so a C-section was in order. But then it was too late for the man before the offspring could be extracted; he died, taking the unborn along with him. The next was luckier, except the infant died moments after its birth.

Hanaru had to leave the site before she was discovered. Back in her room, she threw up five times into the toilet. And when she fell asleep, she kept seeing the horrific scenes and hearing those screams of anguish.

She wasn't sure she awoke on her own or what, because when she was beginning the third week, she awoke and found herself on an operating table. Strapped down, and she was livid. "You bastard - you _murderer_ ," she shouted at the occupant on the other side, at the long table with instruments and bubbling, colorful liquids. "What is this now?!"

He chuckled, not turning around. "Oh, don't fear. I did promise no harm would come for you. But here we get to finally begin, after all these weeks, of what I brought you here for." Now he turned around, lips stretched to either side of his face.

"Shall we begin?"

~o~

When the month passed, it was torture for him to go a day without seeing her, sensing her presence, and when he supervised Team Eight, it seemed that as long as his keen eyes watched their every move, the trio got away with nothing - especially Hanabi. He just hoped that when they got their sensei back, their squabbling would cease.

Although with Misaki's case, she insisted on asking for a new water technique to be taught, or a new wind jutsu. There was one Water Style he was certain he could show her, and it was difficult to master, having to be done near water. Hence why it was taken to the lake to show her.

He could do the Water Dragon Bullet, which was one of the most powerful water jutsus in the world. An entire month for Misaki-chan to learn, and he showed her all the hand signs, although the strange fact was that the exact number wasn't a fix.

 _"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"_

He observed from his place on dry land, as the redheaded girl stood on water, chakra in the soles of her feet, and watched as the water several feet away from her swirled in a whirl and arose, forming the shape of the dragon - one of the most powerful, non-living beings in existence. When it would strike the opponent, the impact would leave serious physical damage. A body of water, especially for a trainee, was ideal, but depending on the user's might, a location without water was just as effective.

Misaki looked over her shoulder just as she guided her creation in his direction. He chose to counterattack using his own, and they cancelled each other out. She jumped back a safe distance, amazed at how she was learning this so fast. "You know," she called out, "you should be called Itachi- _sensei!_ You're one of the best! Hanaru-sensei might be happy if she saw you taught us well!"

He didn't know what to say to that, but he was _honored_ she had to say that to him.

Her special surprise was the many shadow clones - via water use - which she personally called her "Ocean of Clones", though she could do it only when she was on or near water. However, they would revert to look-alikes of the owner just like shadow clones on dry land.

There was nothing much to say about Hanabi besides her monstrous strength, perfect chakra control and her three hundred and sixty degree visual perception. Much of this she'd learned under her father since she would one day be head of the main branch.

As for Misaki's brother, he needed more than just his Lightning Ball and flaming kunai. Lightning Style was his nature, so he could channel his chakra into his blades which would pierce the opponents on strike, similar to Kakashi's technique, though it was difficult to master without the Sharingan. However, the boy was determined to get this right even if he had to spend all his chakra in a single day.

Daichu could electrify his sister's Water Dragon if the chance would come. When the suggestion on Itachi's behalf was brought to their attention, their faces lit up in unison, and the shock value could have sent the whole lake aflame.

Misaki would need more time to develop her reserves if she wanted to perform the Water Dragon without needing its source close by.

Their conflicts decreased as he kept both his eyes as often as he could spare on them. But their perseverance increased to get their real teacher back. He should be offended, but he knew he wouldn't have been in this position forever, although Kakashi said - unwillingly - that if Hanaru wasn't rescued, he would have to take the teaching post for these three as he'd done a fine job.

 _No matter how bleak it is, I won't lose hope. I can't afford to think the worst._

But at night, in the entire month, the sweet dream he once had sometimes shifted into something else. He and Hanaru would be...together the way couples should be, and he would wake up with his body on fire and sweating uncontrollably. Even his shorts would stick to him when he would find his release without the use of a hand. Upon pulling the fabric off, he would find that the wild black hairs above his limp length would be matted together with the drying semen. He'd feel unable to go back to sleep without resolving his issue, and that was to slide back beneath the blankets, glide his fingers over coarse pubic hair, and renew his erection until he further soaked the sheets and the insides of his thighs with himself. Itachi would go back to sleep then and there, feeling renewed but otherwise somber the next day. Simply because he knew she wasn't here.

Soon after, the dreams changed. While the passionate lovemaking pace would change, and the wishful feel of her beautiful, powerful body with his, her hair a pale waterfall shielding their faces from the world, her breasts soft against his pectorals - _if only it were real_ \- before the end would come in the cruelest, sickest way possible.

His Hana-chan's hair would grow out and turn dark as night, her eyes vivid yellow, and her face would contort into the nightmare that was _Orochimaru_. The snake that had taken the place of his beloved in his dreams would say the same thing that would make him feel ill when the dawn light would reach his eyelids.

 _"Wonderful...the best yet, Itachi."_

He couldn't tell anyone about his dreams, not that it was their business. Especially not Shisui, even though his cousin knew he was more troubled than the rest of them - except Naruto was brooding more than Sasuke ever would. That led him to taking the Rasengan out on the poor poles in every training ground, resulting in lectures from his friends and even the Rokudaime. Jiraiya would simply shake his head and grumble instead of taking active part. The master expressed his own disapproval but chose to let his former student realize his own mistakes. Naruto wasn't a child anymore.

Hinata, as the best friend of Hanaru, Naruto's love and Hanabi's _aneki_ , was extremely worried and often let her sadness show on her face despite her _saiai's_ attempts to reassure her. Sasuke, despite not being crazed about Hanaru, kept the lifeline up just because of everyone else. Sakura was no different than Hinata, with the exception of maintaining her forced smile.

In short, everyone wished the Explosive Force was back. To lose her would be a major blow.

Three whole weeks until Itachi and Naruto were summoned personally to the Hokage's office, and he just about burst with joy and relief when Kakashi informed them firsthand since they both deserved to know before anyone else.

"Well, where is my sister?" Naruto asked, the demand underlined. Itachi closed his hands into fists behind his back. Kakashi watched them both with eyes that had a faint light coming from the darkness that clouded over long enough.

"We know where she is, and it is a place where no one would have dared to venture again...the Land of the Sea."

 **WHOO HOO, HANARU'S LOCATION REVEALED. :D**

 **Demon Island Lab appears only in the anime, if someone didn't know. It is in the Land of the Sea on an island of its name. Before the series began, Orochimaru used it to experiment on transgenic creatures he kept in pillars. Amachi, the lead scientist, and Orochimaru terrorized the residents of the Land of the Sea, abducting them for these deadly experiments - including creating the ultimate underwater ninja - an idea later abandoned by Orochimaru for unknown reasons.**

 **I just found out Daichu's technique (Lightning Ball) DOES exist, and I can't believe I never knew before. One known user was Sarada Uchiha herself, quote on wiki: "The user creates spheres of electrical energy and launches them at the enemy. When they make contact with the enemy, the spheres electrocute them and throw them back. This technique can also be used in rapid succession or fire multiple balls at once." Except this differs greatly from the way Daichu uses it, so maybe it doesn't matter. :)**

 **Review please! :D**


	14. Epic Encounters

**Been busy the last few days, doing a new fic called "I Walked With a Zombie", which is completed, and a couple nights ago I put up a new shot called "Rose Water" (another spinoff of this series). All the while I needed more careful planning with this new chapter.**

 **I looked on a known map of all of the Five Great Nations, and strangely, the Land of Sea isn't recorded in the known spots. But around the Land of Water are many islands, so I guessed Demon Island could be any one of them.**

 **I don't remember what the place of experimentation looked like other than internally, so bear with me on this version which was reasonable enough.**

 **Highly sure the next chapter after this one will conclude the story. :D Something big is coming...**

Chapter Thirteen

Epic Encounters

The Demon Island was one of many recovered locations for the Snake Sannin to perform his many loathsome activities. Located on an island of the same name within the Sea Country between Leaf's shorelines and the Land of Water, Orochimaru used it to experiment on various creatures in experimental pillars which were now abandoned - but now their original user had returned. The residents of the Land of the Sea were kidnapped for the snake's subjects, intending to create a species of underwater ninja until it was terminated for unknown reasons.

"With this in mind, your mission is to rescue Hanaru Uzumaki," Kakashi told the group that was assembled, and the air was grim but also psyched - grim on behalf of Sai and Yamato who were both going in without their ANBU gear, for once on orders. Naruto and all of Team Eight were ecstatic to get her, as one's sister and the other's teacher.

As for Itachi, he was treading the line, but it was much more personal.

Orochimaru could assume his serpent form again, and cutting him apart again would release the paralyzing bodily fluids, so bringing gas masks to be safe was on the mark. And if they were going to get to Hanaru, it had to be by air, via Sai's ink birds. Traveling by boat would take many days, and the currents would be treacherous against them. A month had gone by, and they could not afford anymore time to waste.

"Well, I'm ready to go when everyone else is," Naruto said heatedly, looking around at everyone. "My sister is out there."

"Yes, Naruto," Kakashi said tiredly, rubbing his temple. "And the sooner you leave, the better. You all know what to do -" His attention then fell to Hanabi and her team. "- and since Orochimaru can't be killed so easily, incapacitate him if you have to. Seal him away, and I will send more Shinobi as backup to take him to the correctional facility."

He was speaking, of course, of the Konoha Strict Correctional, which was where Shinobi who committed the most heinous acts would serve their sentences, namely for life. It used to be under a different name, but then due to the decrease in the crime rate, the prison was torn down and then remade into a smaller structure - resembling a palace inside a volcano, and if you saw it from above, you would see the island in the shape of a kunai. One to carry his sentence was Mizuki, the night he tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Sealing.

Daichu's eyes widened by a fraction behind his spectacles. "Why one of the oldest Shinobi prisons, Lord Sixth?" he asked in frustration. "This guy is one of the three of legend, the man who killed the Third Hokage, and took our sensei. For years he got away from us without trouble, so what's to say that this time won't be any different?" His dark eyes narrowed.

"We even tried killing him, and he'd just regenerate as well as release those noxious fumes to paralyze us all."

"And swallow you whole like the snake he is," Misaki added disgustedly.

Itachi looked down at them both from behind. "Enough, you two," he said coldly. They said nothing then, not even looking at him. Hanabi glanced his way from the corner of her eye.

"We will leave immediately, Lord Hokage," Yamato said, clearly irritated himself, "and take Sai's birds. The sooner, the better." He stole another glance in the direction of Naruto who was impatient but waiting for the order. The Hokage was intending to, but he had more to say.

"Intelligence -" _Shisui._ "- speaks of what Orochimaru is up to with Hanaru." The cringe was present in his voice if he didn't show it. "It pushes the boundaries of disturbing in that we keep these events secret from the public. I'm speaking in terms of the non-Shinobi. But Hanaru is vital in the sense that her DNA is clearly essential to his amassing of a possible army of his own making. I'm speaking about the abduction of many men throughout the island and surroundings, but not simply for their jutsu to put in himself."

Hanabi's lip curled as she growled aloud.

Kakashi concluded with an air of ominous ice. "What tops it as worse: Orochimaru is stealing women's uteruses and transplanting them into the men." The pause that followed roused the cold sweat that erupted within a second.

"K-Kakashi-sensei," Naruto uttered, his teeth chattering in spite himself, "you're saying that the bastard is not only killing women and harvesting their wombs, but he's putting them in men he's kidnapped?! He's using them as vessels for making little minions!" His voice rose several octaves. "And that means my SISTER is involved to be the next donor?!"

"It is likely, but as of this moment, she is still alive. I am now ordering the lot of you to leave at this moment, get there before it's too late," the Hokage ordered harshly, his tone changing drastically to that of a shifting sierra in its fury, taking all of them with it.

Itachi shared Naruto's frustration, but he did not let it cloud his mind. Beneath that frustration was the desperation to get there before it was too late, as Kakashi said.

Soon, he was on an ink bird with Naruto behind him, Yamato and Sai on another, and Team Eight on theirs. Had this been them hunting for Hanaru, they would have gone for the number of days, weeks or months on end, but the intel the Sixth gave made everything with speed. And with Hanabi's Byakugan as well as Naruto's Sage Mode, they would pinpoint where Hanaru and her captives were. _I could assess chakra level, but I have no such ability to sense where the life-forms are._

The lush forestry of Fire Land eventually gave way to pristine, layered blue waters where Water Land as well as Sea resided. At this rate, it would be less than a day's time, but as soon as they landed on Demon Island, it was a stop to replenish.

~o~

"Son of a bitch, if you don't release me -" She thrashed with all her might against her better judgment. The straps held her down at her wrists and ankles, and beneath her bust. He thought it best to keep it as far away from a certain place as possible - and what was more: he had _stripped her down to her undergarments!_ He left her in her short-sleeved, nude-colored bra with the plunging neckline, and her dark navy briefs. _You goddamned, son of a pervert! You are going to pay now if I ever -!_

Her curses were cut off by a string of chuckles as metal clinked, as if he was checking over the tools before use. What, he couldn't do that before she awoke? Was this his form of psychological torture on her while she was awake? He'd done so much to her in three weeks that this was the final straw? "What are you going to need me for now, snake?" she snarled, craning her neck to the side as far as it would go.

"Oh, I assure you, we won't begin anytime soon. But right now we will have an examination of your body, since your chakra has been cut off from you. Given that, your body takes awhile longer to heal after Kabuto gave you some...issues. I see you are progressing well. Although, today is not ideal to begin."

"Why not?" she demanded, the cold truth coming to the front of her cranium. _He's gonna impregnate me next because doing it on a man failed. Shit, damn it all, now I'm in for it now._

She'd thought all this time that her boys - her brother and Itachi - and everyone else would come, but time had run out. Despair washed over her. She let these two overpower her without a fight and hated herself for it. She was supposed to be a strong Shinobi, but they rendered her a weak damsel in distress. She relied on the men to come for her, just like Sakura let herself be behind as a Genin and in her early days as Chuunin.

Orochimaru now stood over her, keeping his golden eyes glued on her face rather than her body. It made her stomach roll when she thought about him touching her before she woke up, but then he shook his head. "Do relax, dear Hanaru. I still have not done anything you might be thinking. It saddens me you still think so low of me."

"Because what you have done is as low as it could get on your list!" she sneered. "It's on the same as when you killed Sarutobi-sama."

His face fell into something along the lines of distaste at the reminder. "Oh, that's right, the old man was like a guardian to you and your brother, wasn't he? I once thought of him as the same when I...lost my parents." She didn't expect to see the distance that misted over his eyes, and for a second when he mentioned becoming an orphan, she felt a little sorry for him, and she wanted to know more, but that was as far as she was going because he switched it back to a sneering of the Sandaime.

"But he also took away my arms and entirety of my jutsu," he hissed, eyes narrowing at the memory of the Chuunin Exams, before they lit up once again. "But at least I undid the seal and found myself with a fresh new body in time for the war..."

"...in which you revived so many Shinobi who were pitted against their friends and loved ones! I'd be stupid to say you haven't changed a bit - in fact, you are worse than ever!"

Her insults only fueled him, making him laugh again. "You are right, I haven't. But I must correct you on the last part. I have improved. Which brings us to now. The experiments have failed thus far, but with your Uzumaki chakra I acquired from your many samples, it's gotten better over the last couple which you have not been aware of. Of course they need more time to develop within the subject -" He was speaking of the fetuses inside the unwilling fathers. "- before I decide it's succeeded, but I'm quite confident. Although, to be perfectly honest, I need only one more subject before I carry on my newest goal. Your DNA isn't enough anymore, it seems. What I need now..."

Suddenly, something was coming over her, and her senses were getting cloudy. _A sedative...you bast-_

"...is your _womb_."

~o~

There was the Demon Island dead ahead, miles away from the large landmass in the ocean that was the Land of Water. This entire land relied on Kiri for protection, and therefore was not its own nation, nor was it prosperous today after the last war. Mother Island itself was surrounded by three others, including Demon.

On Jiro Island, it was where Anko had been subjected and abandoned because she was not up to her old sensei's standards for the Cursed Seal of Heaven. She survived the ordeal but wasn't strong enough to activate the dreaded mark that would have changed her forever.

The second to smallest was none other than Demon Island, where Hanaru was located. Hanabi's Byakugan got the exact location. Naruto could use his Sage Mode to detect if he wanted to, but his chakra had to be saved for the fight. Everyone was all set and ready to go.

The plan was this: Yamato and Sai would act as guards to make sure nobody would interfere, even though it was unlike Orochimaru to use guards or have any additional henchmen besides Kabuto Yakushi. His Sound-nin were heard very rarely these days. But if any came about, they had no choice but to fight. And that was why they had Hanabi and Naruto to see if anyone else was there, and it appeared to just be the two of them...with a few other subjects around the area, tied down, and many others locked away. "The three besides Sensei are..." She trailed off then, the vein bulging as visibly as those around her eyes. She didn't need to answer; the morbid discussion was more than all the men could handle. Itachi could imagine even what Daichu was thinking as this was his young mind ruined forever by a simple taboo topic that was male pregnancy come to life.

 _Hanaru is the current he is experimenting on._

Which led to the next half of the plan: Team Eight would deal with Kabuto as a whole while he and Naruto would act together against the snake himself. Sai and Yamato would assist if the opportunities presented.

Misaki and Daichu were both excited to try their new jutsu on "four-eyes", so Itachi wished them luck as their temporary sensei. Naruto beamed and flashed them the thumbs up.

Hanabi had to stick her tongue out for being left out, but she got her wish.

Sai sent out messenger birds and Itachi sent his crows as additional backup to send for the ANBU as reinforcements. As far as they were all concerned, they were getting out alive with Hanaru and any captives intact, but Orochimaru would be welcomed as either dead or alive.

The place was a fortress, but there were no guards - and there were barriers set up by paper seals on the windows. _Useless._

There were two things he could use to get them both through, but they used up an enormous amount of his chakra. His eyesight was on the verge of becoming worse than ever. The Mangekyo was wearing him down, and there were few willing to be donors these days. It was a power not meant for everyone to know and want for themselves.

"Stand by, people!" Naruto declared, before summoning up forth his Nine-Tails Mode and then one of his strongest long-range jutsu that was mighty enough to cut even through rock. _"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"_

The impact sent debris into the air and the rocks in the wall indoors, clearing way for all of them. Orochimaru, Kabuto and Hanaru were all down below, so it was likely that neither of them heard. "Split up!" Itachi shouted to them all, and the formation was just as they discussed - at the same time the right hand himself appeared.

"Well, well, Naruto, Itachi and Hanaru's little brats," he said when his attention fell on those mentioned. "Not surprising to see you here."

"Out of our way, bastard," Naruto growled, "so we can get my sister!"

The silver-haired man simply laughed. "Not gonna happen. Lord Orochimaru is at work with her at this very moment that no one should interrupt -" He frowned, sentence ending then and there, when Daichu barked at him at the same time his Lightning Ball crackled.

"Shut it, Four Eyes, and come at us! This is going to be for our sensei! GIRLS!"

In that moment, all three were at him from every angle, Misaki unleashing her water needles which he blocked with his headband - simple as that - Hanabi readying her Twin Palms, and Daichu on the verge of going for the target's body, with Misaki ready to give more of what she had. But even if these three improved, Kabuto Yakushi was still notably compared to the level of Kakashi Hatake, even superior to Lady Tsunade in her prime. _He even took out many of our best ANBU during the Chuunin Exams years ago_.

"Sai," Itachi said under his breath, "remain with them and help them." The other nodded in understanding, leaving them and joining up with Team Eight.

"All right, we find Hanaru and smoke the snake!" Naruto shouted proudly. "Right, Itachi?" He looked in his direction with a wink, making the Uchiha resist showing even a hint of amused agreement. Yamato couldn't hold back a grin of his own.

They reached the door which was to the laboratory, and it was opened without any doors which was a disadvantage. The trio stood there, Itachi in the middle, Yamato on the left and Naruto on his right - and there was the long-haired figure, black as midnight, but more sinister as he stood over the half-naked figure of the one they came here for. _Hanaru._

Itachi tried to assess her chakra level, but he saw that it was held back. Either Orochimaru or Kabuto must have put a paper seal on her body somewhere. She couldn't have fought to get out of here if she wanted to. A broken bone was a trouble if she attempted. He could imagine how she must have loathed having been in here as a helpless girl waiting for her men to come to her rescue.

It didn't appear that he'd begun working yet, for he halted the scalpel he started to place on Hanaru's abdomen, telling Itachi exactly what he was planning: _he was going to remove her uterus for another male subject._ Hot rage boiled his blood to bubbling pressure. Naruto growled with righteous hatred at the sight of his sister in this vulnerable state. "You bastard, what have you done already to Hanaru?"

"Orochimaru," Yamato said icily as he was apparently onslaught with memories of being the Snake Sage's guinea pig.

A slithering chuckle caressed the air as it did to their senses. "The party intrudes on important work," he said simply, making Naruto bark worse than he bit.

"KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY SISTER! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER NOW?!"

"Oh, Naruto, relax. Although she has been worse than you with the obnoxious little mouth, but it was a shame she couldn't fight me with her tail beneath my thumb," Orochimaru stated suavely, turning around so his back was to the unconscious woman on the table. The scalpel rested tamely on the side of the steel slab, a safe distance from Hanaru. Itachi saw how her skin appeared to retain its healthy buff, her hair light as ever, but he couldn't tell if there was any weight to her body that she was allowed to keep. He demanded to know how she'd been treated.

"Like all those you abduct could never fight you, as they could fight for their own lives only that long before they die on that table the woman is laying on at this very moment?" Yamato stated rather than questioned. _And you were about to take a vital part of Hanaru's body to put into another, therefore murdering her just like the next..._

"Sacrifices are made for the greater cause," the snake man answered with a lick of his lips. "Just as this woman is. She served her use in the success of the past experiments, although it is a shame that many of them died either in childbirth, or the offspring themselves don't make it. Nonetheless, it's coming along splendidly when the offspring carry the known jutsu bloodlines. I'm growing ever closer..."

A demonic leer crossed over his face that made Naruto's eyes glow redder. He growled through his teeth. Yamato regarded his former captor with controlled ice. Internally, Itachi's blood continued to boil.

Orochimaru finished with his teeth bared, lips drawn over. "And since I do have all I need from her to make carrying the bloodlines easier within the carrier, I have thus grown short of available donors for _what_ surrounds and houses the offspring until birth." His lack of respect for human life was what made him dangerous and most hated along with the Akatsuki as a whole. He might be a member, but he acted like he owned everything on his own. Like everything in the world belonged to him. _Very simplistic but grotesque._

"Why would you waste your time testing all this on a man instead of in a woman, since she has everything you need?" Yamato asked.

"Well, that is none of your business. In fact, all three of you know too much as it is," Orochimaru answered. "If you would excuse me -" He wasn't going to get away with it so easily, and now Itachi reached for his sword. He wasn't going to cut him in half while he would be in his serpent form, if it ever got to that. Yamato and Naruto were aware of that.

Above, meanwhile, Sai and Team Eight were busy with Kabuto, however that was.

The snake sniggered at his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "I wouldn't be cutting me in half like last time if I were you, Itachi. Wouldn't want to risk a repeat, would we?" he jeered. "Or better yet, we should make things more...exciting instead of cutting right to the chase."

He was referring to the trio getting into a fight that would destroy his precious laboratory, but he wouldn't want that, would he? On Itachi's part, the chaos would just take Hanaru down with. He decided to switch tactics and use this location to their advantage. "Within these walls?" He nodded around with his head. "I'm surprised you'd be back here after last time," he said, casual talk being a waste of time, but it was necessary to get this monster to talk more and explain himself before he was taken down.

Orochimaru blinked before smiling a little at the reminder. "Amachi - he was the last to work alongside me in my previous experiments, but it wasn't working out to my interests, so I have since left the project." A frown crossed the pale face. "However, he clearly didn't take no for an answer, so I simply let him do the rest if it amused him. It pleased me to know that you took care of him, Naruto."

"Yeah, the bastard and his fish experiments - all of that was part of you, too," Naruto spat, eyes almost completely red. His Kyuubi form only prodded the surface without breaking.

"Indeed. But not compared to now..."

 _"Which you are going to die for, snake!"_

Then and there, Naruto assumed Nine-Tails Mode, glowing golden yellow in every angle, the black marks of the sage appearing, and he summoned forth his Rasengan at the same time Itachi brought forth his small Fire Style, the many shuriken enveloped in flames, and all but a handful connected with Orochimaru who didn't even dodge and allowed himself to be hit in both shoulders as well as the middle of his body - _all too easy._

It was a shadow clone in the forms of SNAKES. They all slithered in random directions. The real one was right behind Itachi. Quickly, he turned around in time for his blade to clash with the other's which he'd regurgitated out through his mouth. Just like the snake he was.

Yamato went past them to go right for Hanaru who was still on the table. The few shuriken that missed their target had cut a few of the straps to free her, but Yamato finished the job and had her in his arms, flying past the Uchiha as he fought Orochimaru, their blades one on one. Meanwhile, others knocked a few chemicals on the table into each other, catching an oil lamp in the process, and a fire had begun. This whole room was going to go down and take them with if they didn't get out of here. Orochimaru knew that and chased Itachi out, still going at him and aiming for his heart -

\- only to come face to face with Naruto's back, slashing him across. Just like Tsunade had once done for him so many years ago against this man.

"NARUTO!"

"I'm fine, Itachi!" he said with a grimace, the wounds sealing away in no time. He then turned around to cover him in the front, bringing forth the Rasengan for the strike, leaving him to turn to his teammate in ANBU and look down at the woman he loved who was very much unharmed, except for the fact she had been heavily sedated. Though it seemed the dose was wearing off.

Itachi assessed then where the chakra seal was located on his Hanaru: _her right upper thigh._ "Break the seal," he told Yamato after telling him where the marking was, and the Wood Style user nodded, carrying the woman out bridal style just as the lab before was being consumed with fast-moving fire through the noxious chemicals.

Orochimaru watched, his lip curling at his subject being taken from him, but he wasn't going to let Yamato get away with it. "Stay away from her!" Itachi shouted, doing the hand sign for the Fire Ball to shoot and keep the monster away from his beloved and comrade.

The fire consumed him before he could get away, but it turned out to be shed skin left in place.

At least Yamato fled with Hanaru in no time.

~o~

 _What's happened to me?_

 _Orochimaru - he drugged me._

But it seemed she was no longer under. Strangely, there was no pain which she had been expecting. If that serpentine son of a bitch was relishing her suffering, he must have given her a sedative that lasted a short period of time. Or if it only resided in her system enough for him to be done by the time of the surgery, then she would look upon him as she died...but nothing of the sort happened.

The face she found herself looking upon was not Orochimaru, but - "Y-Yamato?" She met the man outside ANBU several times, but she wasn't close to him by any means. He was beneath Itachi in rank, but an equal all the same. And that meant -!

He smiled down at her. "Glad you're not harmed, Hanaru. Doesn't look like Orochimaru cut you open before we got here." He had her cradled against him, but he let her go so she could sit up - and she uttered a gasp of horror when she saw herself in her _undergarments_. _Nobody thought to cover me up!_ Yamato looked her down and blushed. "Sorry, but there was nothing we could grab for you." He really was cute like that, flustered as a schoolboy simply by being in her presence.

She found herself looking down at herself again, and this time a little smirk crossed her face. She felt it. She had an idea if she ever got that damned mark off - and then she remembered Yamato was skilled with removing seals as he was placing them. Just like with the chakra of a _Jinchuuriki._

At the same time she remembered the blasted suppresser on her upper right thigh. "He sealed my chakra away. I couldn't even heal fast, either. I didn't even try to fight them lest I had broken bones, and that never bodes well," Hanaru said bitterly, lowering her eyes to prevent further embarrassing contact.

"No problem there. I already removed it."

"Well, thank you," Hanaru said, stretching out her legs and moaning a little at the feel of her energy returning to her. Her chakra had slowly started to refill before the sealing, but now she might need more time. It had better hurry up so she could help her brother and Itachi. Then she recalled her own Genin who had been without her all this time. "What about my students?"

"They've done well, but they missed you," Yamato answered. "In fact, everyone has missed you. Itachi has taught them some new tricks that you should see when we get out of here..."

 _That means they are here. I sense them. They're above us, and fighting Kabuto. They have to be._ That worried her, because he could go up against Kakashi if he wanted to.

However, here she and Yamato were, in front of where her brother and the man she loved were fighting the man who held her here for the better part of a month, tortured her in a way she'd never experienced in lifetimes. Naruto got him with the Rasengan only for the snake to get up again, and Itachi brandished his sword as well as unleashed the fire only for it to take shed skin in its wake. That meant she was the last hope to help them. Her blood sizzled with the images that were conjured in her brain.

He was going to face the full, furious wrath of the Explosive Force herself.

 **I saw a picture of the Land of Sea on the Naruto wiki, its major islands from left to right, but it was hard to tell if the smallest or second to smallest was Demon, but because it was inhabited, I thought the second to smallest was the best choice. Plus it was a filler episode I forgot anyways.**

 **Further research on Amachi made me remember a little bit, as well as the "ultimate underwater ninja", and Orochimaru left after a loss of interest. Amachi, on the other, hand carried on and brought in Isaribi who was a tool for attacking ships for his purposes.**

 **Hope the wait was worth it. I miss any reviews this story gets. Please leave one or however many it needs. I don't require any certain amount. :)**


	15. Tremble for Your Beloved

**Named for the song "Tremble for My Beloved", from the soundtrack of the movie Twilight. I used to love those films and books in the day, which was during my teenage years. I may still do, a little, but it's been a while. I accept those kinds of vampires as well as the traditional dark, sexy demons of the night (Alucard being an example).**

 **Crispin Freeman doesn't hate the Twilight books and movies, but he has his own ideas regarding the vampire lore since he's a mythology scholar. He said: "vampires don't sparkle. If they do, that makes them FAIRIES!" XD**

 **Vampire talk aside, here comes the end... :3**

Chapter Fourteen

Tremble for Your Beloved

"Hanaru, are you sure you're going to help them when you are...like this?" Yamato asked with a little swallow as he tried not to look her over again. "Reinforcements are coming, and you really want to create a ruckus if they see you?"

She didn't like it when people intruded on her privacy like that, but there was also nothing to give her in this place; then again, there was no time to search before they found her. _Why did I lose faith that they'd never come?_

 _Although in stories, the hero - or heroes in some cases - shows up at the last minute. Good old Naruto._ And she was so happy Kakashi allowed Itachi to go with. The man who had been her part-time caregiver was still there beneath that Hokage seat. Hinata and the others were worried sick, she was sure of it.

Her Genin had gotten much stronger, making her proud. She couldn't wait to tell Itachi he'd done so well with them, but she wanted to know the story of how he dealt with all three of them. If he was hard on them in any way, then he must have gotten through good. Hanabi and her teammates might have turned on each other while she'd been taken, and Itachi-sensei to the rescue. The title made her laugh; if he was an Academy teacher or Jounin mentor, he would make a damned fine one.

 _But there is also him in the Black Ops. He got in because of his father, so there's no doubt Fugaku will still have a say about this._

She would have to worry about that later because her man and her brother needed her help. Naruto's Rasengan disabled Orochimaru only for the snake to get back up, then Itachi's Fire Ball and his sword had their turn in sync only to cut through shed skin, but he returned with a full vengeance - in the form of his tongue lashing out and taking Naruto by the ankle. "WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelped out and found himself thrust across the hall, hitting the wall in the far end of the area. The fire behind them in the opened doorway was leaking out, on the verge of taking them all down if it remained unattended. If Misaki were here, she could put the fire out with her water. But Itachi could do it if he wanted to, if he wasn't busy with the snake still attacking him with the sword in his mouth.

Hanaru quickly made the hand signs, shouting, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

All eyes were on her. Naruto was getting up from his fallen place, cracking a strained grin that she'd rejoined them - but he also blushed at seeing her in her state of undress. _Poor little brother_.

Itachi gazed upon her with calm pride - but there was also something much stronger. Brighter than the fires burning within the walls she had been in before rescue.

And as for the demon himself, disbelief washed over his angular features at the twenty-odd number of herself still in her knickers and surrounding him. This made her think about her brother's idiotic Sexy Jutsu, but it was really her. Hanaru had never felt so empowered in her life.

Then Orochimaru's face twisted into a sadistic grin. "This trick of yours is familiar, Hana-kun, but it's a shame it doesn't produce the desired effect on me," he said just as he was swinging his blade out at every one of "her" that he could get to, the target turning into puffs of smoke, but he didn't see where she really was, which he should have anticipated.

 _By "desired effect", you mean the reaction like Ebisu and Iruka when they found themselves subjected to Naruto and Konohamaru's antics. Or even your old friend, Jiraiya. Well, take this!_

"Uzumaki...BALL BUSTER!"

As soon as all her clones had been cleared, she was right beneath him and her fist blowing out the spot he didn't think to protect, which in turn sent him upwards into the air, smashing into the concrete ceiling, which then cracked and threatened to give way on them. Orochimaru let out sounds of pain beyond words to describe, which was no less than he deserved.

The ceiling collapsed just as she and her brother jumped out of the way, Itachi in the opposite direction which was where the burning laboratory was. Steam was in the air, telling her Itachi had put the fire out himself while she pummeled the serpentine bastard into the ceiling.

" _Nee-chan!_ " Naruto threw his arms around her, holding her close as if to make sure she was really in front of him. She cried out in surprise. His chakra mode subsided, leaving him as his normal self. "My God, my sister!"

"Ow, Naruto! As happy as I am to see you, too, please let me go before you snap me in two!" He released her then, laughing a little, then his face turned red as he tried not to look at her. "And would you please stop being so red? I've already got poor Yamato going through that as it is!" Hanaru exclaimed, laughing with him.

And speaking of the man himself - "Hanaru, I could use some help!" he said, jumping over the rubble and joining her. "I would use the wood encasement, but he will just break out of it. He also has the First Hokage's cells..."

 _That's right, because Orochimaru studied the DNA of Hashirama Senju, and nobody has the power that he does anymore - or very few._

Yamato was telling her that if she chained down the snake herself, since he could get back up very soon, then he would be restrained long enough for help to arrive. And Itachi would be able to put him under _genjutsu_ long enough to keep him from getting away.

And as predicted, the person crushed beneath the debris crawled out after forcing his way through, grunting and groaning - and portions of his face peeled off, showing fresher, creamier skin. It was the most disgusting thing she ever saw in her life. But what made them all laugh was when he clutched a certain part of his body downstairs, just like Shisui, Mizuki and so many others. "Serves you right, you rat bastard," Hanaru said, spitting down at him. "The snake becomes the rat, physically impossible as it is."

He looked up at her with a grimace and without a word.

She knelt down then and there, allowing her spine to rupture with the pressure and immense throbbing that was her mother's clan's chains bursting out and wrapping around the pale man of nightmares, bringing him down to the ground at every angle. _Gotcha!_

"HANARU!" Naruto shouted.

People really had the habit of saying her name at random, but this happened to everyone in a situation like this. Grimacing, she fell to her knees. She felt some traces of the sedative in her system, but no way in hell she was letting it overpower her - except she had to kneel down to let her body relax a little. Until those damned reinforcements got here.

A shadow fell over her just like before, and it was the very same one before the snake opened his jaws to take her away. "Hanaru," Itachi said softly, kneeling beside her and putting his hand on the small of her back. His hand contact with her skin made it burn a little. Her brother appeared on the other side, and did the same to her, all three of them looking up when the snake hissed out.

"Kill me now while she has me trapped, why don't you, Itachi? It seems you want it more than Naruto-kun..." Orochimaru's lips pulled back to show his teeth as he licked them.

Naruto growled in his teeth. Itachi gave no outward reaction as he stood up, then pulled his sword back out from behind him and raised it over the Snake Sannin's head as if prepared to chop it off just like you would do to a real snake as opposed to simply chopping it in two - before he did the "unexpected" thing of returning the shining blade to its rightful place.

"I-Itachi, you're not going to give that bastard what he deserves? Kakashi-sensei -!"

Hanaru interrupted him irritably. "Lord Hokage, _otouto._ "

"Whatever! He said dead or alive, and I say death to him. He's just gonna get away again if we take him, I'm sure of it. Pervy Sage said he was better off out of all our miseries, and even he couldn't kill this bastard himself!"

Itachi sighed sharply as if silently agreeing with him. "That's enough, Naruto," he said before returning his attention back to the gob smacked man who could only stare back up at him with unblinking yellow eyes.

"Death is too easy for you, Orochimaru. But believe me, I wish I could kill you myself for what you did to countless, for taking away the Third Hokage - and for taking this woman away. You might as well rot away within the next few years since we know how long you can withstand life until the next host," Itachi answered with all of the frost that the worst winter storm would provide.

~o~

When he and Naruto were fighting Orochimaru, there was one moment where he really set them both off like a powerful wildfire that destroyed everything in its wake. Itachi had wanted to drive his sword through him without any hint of remorse.

 _"Have I ever told you gentlemen that when I tasted Hana-chan's menstrual blood, it was one of the best that I have had from anyone?"_

Now that earned the Rasengan with real intent to murder him, but the jutsu made by his father was only to disable, and Orochimaru was getting up again in time for Itachi to let his form of wrath out on the snake who said he'd violated Hanaru with his tongue only. To think about it made his insides explode when he set the fire on him - only for another skin to be shed.

The real man was coming his way again, this time for his tongue to latch around Naruto's ankle, flinging him into the wall. Naruto down, the sword returned through his mouth and headed for Itachi. But the Uchiha was prepared to strike him again -

\- only for _Hanaru_ to come around every corner with shadow clones of herself.

 _Welcome back, Hana-chan._

She delivered him the pack of the century, just like Itachi remembered. But to see her do it this time around in her _underwear_ made his body bubble, but below his stomach. He had to use a special relaxation technique he learned a long time ago when he first joined the Black Ops. And since she had it under control, Yamato and Naruto even staying out of her way, there was a pressing matter for him to do, and that was to put out the fire that was going to soon get out of that laboratory behind him. Turning around, he mustered up what he believed was almost the last of his chakra to jet-release the water into every corner that was in front of his eyes.

He never would have done this job if Hanaru hadn't pulled the snake with the sword in his mouth away from him. He silently thanked her for that.

Her attack to the groin area sent Orochimaru into the ceiling, causing the debris to fall and a hole in the roof to form. The smoke did nothing to cloud Itachi's vision - and when it cleared, Hanaru, just like last time, was on her knees and the _Uzumaki chains_ were enveloped around Orochimaru who had crawled out from under the fallen concrete, half his face torn off to show another fresh exterior.

Hanaru didn't appear to be injured, but she was exhausted as he knew he was. He knelt beside her like he did the day she was captured, but now her brother was here, and their enemy was at her mercy.

Orochimaru hissed at him, asking him if he was going to be killed now. He was right; he could see Itachi wanted it more than the brother himself. He hated it, but he was glad, because his dark side was more than happy to oblige. The snake was trapped by his own prey, so this time couldn't have been more perfect. The Hokage said he would accept the Snake Sannin as dead or alive if captured. He was just reaching for his sword, watched by his beloved and her _otouto_ , daring to look into yellow eyes as they waited for him to make the killing blow, for a swift beheading at most - but at the back of his mind, it was not to be. Itachi Uchiha knew this.

Someone like Orochimaru, with the immortality line, could not be killed so easily. At the Artisan Village was proof when he cut the great white snake in half himself. You could only get Orochimaru if he was at his weakest, and that would be if his current body was nearing the end of its term. But right now he was nowhere near that.

In other words: he was better off at the correctional, under tight security, if he couldn't be killed by blade or even poison. Snakes themselves had immunity to certain venoms, given they carried it in their bodies.

He lowered his arm and returned his katana back to its case behind his back. Naruto was dismayed, protesting that this bastard deserved death for everything he did, Hanaru calmly being silent and listening intently, and that Jiraiya couldn't even kill this former friend and teammate of his if he tried to. That he was better dead, and Itachi couldn't agree more, but that was not the only reason the snake would be spared on his account. Not only was it that he loathed spilling blood even if it was one of their greatest enemies.

 _And the one who almost took Hanaru away - your sister and MY woman._

And when you messed with another man's woman, you had to pay for it, but not always with your life. That was why Itachi said death was too easy for this scum who always got away, but this time won't be so easy. Konoha Correctional was going to have new updates to their security if he had anything to say about it to Hokage-sama.

So he told Orochimaru he was going to spend the rest of his time in this body of his within a sealed cell. No need to get out, his chakra sealed, and if someone else killed him there, it would be the day. _But I won't kill you myself, no matter how much I want to._

The ANBU Black Ops arrived soon after, clearing them away and ordering the building to be sealed. There was also the matter of the imprisoned and subjected in these walls. They were all from around here, but these islands depended on the Land of Water for assistance, so it was likely the Black Ops from Kiri would be here to finish the job for them. These matters of Leaf concerned only with the rescue of Hanaru Uzumaki and the capture of Orochimaru.

The unwillingly impregnated were to be taken to the hospital for extensive care, but there was no telling if they would survive or not. Leaf-nin would not be there to witness. But the imprisoned who hadn't been experimented on would be examined and then released back to any loved ones they had.

If Itachi had not been scarred by war at age four, then a man with child - made biologically possible through repulsive means - was going to do the trick. Kakashi would say keep quiet indefinitely; if he was in that seat of the

Hokage, he would issue that decree in a heartbeat.

Orochimaru was eventually placed with seals that Hanaru had done herself, but what did the trick was Itachi putting the demon under _genjutsu_ which he wouldn't break out of for another hour. Tsukuyomi was out of the question. He'd used up nearly all his chakra that it was a miracle he managed to use visual without the Mangekyo.

For a second, he considered using the Amaterasu just to burn this place to the ground, but that was before this fight. And these Mist-nin had their own mess to clean up.

Kabuto got away, the Genin said, because he'd used a corpse puppet that looked like Amachi, the scientist who used to work for Orochimaru and then solo on those fish Shinobi "failures" - the corpse technique was to get the trio to back off for him to get away. He'd done very well planning ahead, which was what Itachi excelled at.

What was going to happen now? Was he going back to the Akatsuki to act in his master's stead, or would he be of his own right?

Nobody was going to forget Kabuto, but the witch hunt was called off for now. When Orochimaru was brought right to the correctional, he had to weave the signs that would release the Edo Tensei, thus letting the sealed away Four Celestials - who had been in the custody of ANBU - return to the afterlife, leaving behind the real corpses which had been encased by earth and then given proper burial afterwards.

Kakashi didn't say much when he read the report on his desk. He closed his eyes and lowered his face, but he did say he was relieved Hanaru was safe and well.

Speaking of Hanaru, she was in the hospital, examined by Lady Tsunade with Sakura and Shizune at her side. He was here with Sasuke, Naruto as well as Hinata on this day. Her brother and best friend were moreso deserving than anyone else.

"Relax, dobe," Sasuke said to the tense Naruto. "I know she'll make it like you always have. Didn't look like she was hurt that bad when you brought her home." Itachi had to suppress a sigh at how his younger sibling's feelings weren't as strong for her as his friendship for _her_ brother. But Naruto was too worried for his big sister to respond.

Some time passed before Sakura came outside and smiled at all of them. "She's fine, everyone," she said, making Naruto and Hinata both jump to their feet. "Although Lady Tsunade wants to talk to you first." In a heartbeat, she was somber, and now Naruto was visibly worried whilst Hinata clasped both her hands together.

At the moment, the leading medical specialist and war veteran herself appeared, well-endowed and amber-eyed, long blonde hair in two low pigtails. She had half a smile and half a scowl in one. "I don't need to ask if you told them, do I?" she asked her apprentice who shook her head. "I'll take it from here. You did well, Sakura." The pink-haired woman smiled gratefully and took the order to leave.

"She's okay, Granny?" Naruto asked.

"I just said that, didn't I?" the older woman replied with a raised eyebrow. "But anyway, the sedative that was in her system wore off. She did sustain some strained bones, but they healed on their own. That Kabuto Yakushi." She shook her head. "And I know there is one thing you three deserve to know out of everything else: whether or not she was..." The vile word was hard to say for him as it was for Naruto, and it was just the same for her to utter it in this hospital. Tsunade lowered her voice.

"...violated."

Hinata's eyes widened. "W-was she?" she whispered anxiously.

"Oh, not at all. In fact, her hymen is still in place. I checked so myself even if she told me it was," the head med-nin answered heartily, making poor Naruto redder to the face at this talk of his sister, but Hinata wasn't bothered. Sasuke didn't appear affected either, other than disgusted.

Itachi, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier even though he slightly showed it. _Thank the gods the snake didn't touch her all the way than he said he did._ The image of that vile tongue going FAR to the place where she bled made his blood resume boiling pressure.

If you touched Itachi Uchiha's woman, you would pay worse than hell offered.

"Is she awake, my lady?" He wanted to go in and have a bit of alone time with her, but that was a selfish thought. He wanted to tell her his feelings, that he understood now why she returned the necklace, but this had to be taken slow and steadily.

Tsunade nodded. "She's wide awake, although I would like to point out that bringing her in her undergarments caused quite the scene - especially with the males," she said with a little wink, chuckling her way out and announcing she was going to have a hell of a drink because she really needed it, and because she felt like celebrating on her own now that Hanaru was back.

Itachi thought a welcome back was in order, but as soon as she was out of this place.

There she was, laying there and in a hospital gown this time. She looked perfectly well, and when she saw all of them standing there - including Sasuke - she smiled. "Hello."

"And to you, too, _onee-chan_ ," Naruto answered, kneeling beside her bed, and Hinata followed him happily, taking Hanaru's hand into hers. The Hyuuga bowed her head and quietly wept happily, an act her father would have disapproved of.

"Sasuke, I didn't think you'd really care to be here," Hanaru told him, eyeing him warily even though she was smiling. He simply grunted and sat down in the empty chair behind Naruto and Hinata.

"You're not a favorite of mine, but you're dobe's sister. That's all I need to be here, just for him - and for my brother," he added with a glance over to Itachi, which had all but given a subtle hint. Otouto, _you really are doing it at a time like this._

She looked over to her right, where Itachi was standing, eyes shining as if knowing the hint - or having an idea. But his throat felt dry as he was unsure how to say the words with their brothers and her friend in this room.

If he was going to tell her he loved her as much as she loved him, in the best way he knew how, it had to be with them alone.

~o~

Tsunade checked her over, with Sakura and Shizune, finding nothing wrong except her healing bones and the sedative worn away in her system. She was released from the hospital in five days' time, but not before that, her brother, Hinata, Sasuke and _Itachi_ visited her shortly after the Slug Princess examined her and did confirm no evidence of sexual assault at the hands of her former teammate, that damned snake.

The fire burned in Tsunade's eyes knowingly. _And to think she once cared about him._

Hinata shed happy tears at her bedside, Naruto holding her hand with his girlfriend, and of course it was like Sasuke to not say much of anything other than it was for his best friend's sake - and his brother. It was a great joy to see Itachi there...but he didn't say much of anything, which made her sad. Though a part of her guessed why: his brother had dropped the hint only she would know. And if Hinata noticed, she said nothing.

Her Genin were looked after because they took the brunt of the fight with Kabuto, who got away. But they were given permission to see her, and she told them all she was very proud of them for their efforts. "And when I'm well, you two can show me that new jutsu of yours," she told Misaki and Daichu, whom she made flustered.

Hanabi huffed, but she got it through that she was equal as these two. Although a small part of Hanaru worried she might grow up to be somewhat like her cousin Neji had been, or Sasuke even. _I'm going to need all the help I can get to prevent it, since I doubt I can do that myself._

Even Jiraiya stopped by to tell her that he was happy his rival was finally behind bars once and for all - hopefully - and also read to her the second draft of his new book he'd been doing while she was away, making her laugh and also to make her blush.

Besides her family, friends and students knowing she was well, she received so many flower arrangements that flourished in the numbers, all in very bright and cheerful colors. She really was _loved_. Ino delivered them personally with Sakura.

The first was a white basket carrying a happy combo of lavender daisies, dark purple asters and chrysanthemums accented with fresh greenery. Next was a brilliant arrangement in an orange vase: orange roses, white daisies and yellow chrysanthemums. A third in a natural bamboo vase were bright pink roses, lavender, green orchids and ferns - it was like a secret garden.

Placed on the floor was a topiary vase, with the top part being yellow lilies while the pot was filled with yellow roses and floating green ivy. Now that was over-the-top, as far as she was concerned. But it was so sweet from whoever sent it!

It turned out the first was courtesy of both Lee and Tenten. Next was from her baby brother and Hinata together, of course. And Sakura and Ino played a part themselves with the bamboo garden arrangement. _And that yellow topiary - from my students._

More to come was a bouquet of white roses and lilac accents, from none other than Sasuke Uchiha. That really surprised her, but it was also likely he'd been convinced to play a part. Still, it was thoughtful of him.

Kakashi even ordered a fashionable arrangement of yellow and pink roses with lush green hydrangeas and pink daisies - well, it was really Jiraiya who convinced him this was a good idea. Good riddance to the both of them.

But there was another that wasn't signed, yet it was clear based on the message: _I wish I could have told you that day, but we had to be alone for it. When will it be the right time?_

This selection was simple but so rich, with only three red roses and white baby's breath, with no special reason other than the fact he _loved her._

Hanaru felt like her breath had been taken away. This was Itachi's way of saying he loved her without words. He wasn't always good with words, just as he had been with that necklace. She didn't know what to think, what to say to herself, other than feel hopeful happiness. After all these years, all this time, he...

~o~

He sent her the flowers because Shisui said they were another of the best ways to tell a woman how you felt about her. When he got home with Sasuke, their parents were on them, both asking how Hanaru was, and Itachi had the liberty to answer, which made Mikoto weep with relief that a potential daughter-in-law was well. And you'd expect Fugaku to once more mention that she was well enough for talks of marriage in the future.

"Father, there will not be any of that unless we see that it is the right time," were his cold words towards the man who held authority over him for the longest time. That was the first time he felt good about speaking to his own father that way.

And for the first time, Fugaku was rendered speechless.

When Itachi chose to pick up the flowers, it was also Shisui who suggested Sasuke play a part with them, and the youngest Uchiha grumbled but relented, choosing the bouquet of white roses and lilacs. Simply because it represented purity as well as healing.

It was on that day he learned from Ino Yamanaka that Naruto and his friends were all pitching in to send her flowers, even the Hokage and Master Jiraiya. And so had her Genin.

Itachi had to leave another note, but when he did, that annoyed Shisui then. "You really need to start telling her yourself how you feel, Itachi. Women and notes without eye to eye confrontation can only last so long. Nothing lasts forever, remember?"

"You honestly think I don't know that?" Itachi replied coolly when he chose his flowers - the three roses and baby's breath. Something small and simple but lush and expressive.

"Well, there also has to be a way, for it to just be the two of you if you got to tell the woman who busted Orochimaru's balls in front of you," his cousin pointed out with a lip-drawn grin. "A place for lovers to meet and confess their love, just the two of them..."

He was referring to a spot at night, like within the park where the flowers would come out at night, lanterns lit, and a picnic for lovers. All of it his cousin's idea - and that also meant to give her the necklace she returned. This made Itachi feel wary in case she might refuse again, but he was finished being a coward.

 _I spent all this time dancing, leaving gifts and letters. I am going to tell her once and for all I am serious about this...worry about the rest later. Including the Black Ops and us possibly not seeing each other as often as we should._

The night after she was discharged from the hospital, they had no time to see each other, but he did ask her when she wanted to get with him, and it was the night after her release, which was on this night now. He set everything up on his own without any help, in the middle of the park where few would dare to come at this time of night. The food consisted of _onigiri_ rice balls, herbal rice porridge - despite not being a sickly occasion - an assorted sushi platter as well as tri-colored dango and the soy-dipped whites. And here he was back in the red spandex shirt which he wore that one night at her and Naruto's apartment. He thought this best to wear out with a woman rather than his usual attire.

Itachi sat cross-legged before the picnic setup when the woman he loved finally showed up.

He never even told her how to come to him, so to see her standing there in the very same blue dress was a pleasant surprise. The light from the lanterns he put in the trees, which were blooming with white flowers, radiated off her ruby-streaked sunlit hair and made her crystalline eyes sparkle with life.

"Hanaru," he breathed, unsure what to say. She took his breath away. He itched to just stand up and take her into his arms then and there.

She took another step forward, the sound of her skirt brushing against her smooth legs. That dress hid her curves well, but he'd seen them in the Demon's Lab if not every inch of her beautiful body. _It's not her body alone, but every fiber of her being._

"Itachi."

His name on her tongue was sweet as the winds that picked up. Her hair rippled over her face. His bangs did the same whilst his ponytail flicked to one side behind his back.

"Did you do all of this by yourself?" she asked, looking around. She gave that soft smile of hers that made him flutter inside. "I never thought you'd really do something like this for us..."

"I honestly had advice, but put everything up alone, yes," Itachi confessed, standing up and walking around the subtle meal set in place. "I'm still fairly new to this." He lowered his eyes. "Hanaru, I don't know how else to say this, but it was in front of me all this time, and it took you being taken away for me to realize it. There has never been anyone who could bring life into darkness the way you do. When my brother was born, that was what he did - but with you, it is different."

Her eyes widened a little before returning to normal, giggling a little. "I know that much."

"And I remembered something that I forgot a long time ago," Itachi went on, stepping closer to her at the same time she did. "One day when I picked Sasuke up from the Academy - at the same time you stood beneath the tree and only watched your brother, when you never met." Remembrance flashed over her irises, which then misted slightly.

"It was only then that I realized, even after the time I spent with you, knowing you well enough...Hanaru, I think you know what I am going to say."

She was in front of him then and there, standing on the tips of her toes, and laid a kiss softer than any flower on his lips. His world tilted and spun upside down, changing course, when Hanaru's arms came to wrap around his shoulders as his went around her small waist. Her curved waist felt so supple and firm. Her hands changed their place and latched onto his shoulders for dear life as the kiss deepened - but she broke it for them to breathe. His lips tingled with a fire he never knew existed.

"Itachi, I..."

He interrupted her gently, wanting so much to hear it from her even though he suspected. "How long have you loved me?" he breathed hoarsely.

She gazed at him with glossy eyes over darkened cheeks. "I don't know. As long as I can remember, but I thought it was foolish. You deserved someone better than a girl who threw herself at you. I saw it all. But over time, it got to the point I couldn't ignore it," she rasped. "And when Orochimaru came, I spent all my time thinking about my brother, my friends...and you. But then as the weeks passed, I became afraid you would never come."

 _Oh, my beloved. You nearly lost hope, until we came for you. And then you took out the one who kept you prisoner in the way I knew you would._ Itachi then pulled her back against him, desperate to hold her forever and never let go, no matter if such a thing didn't exist. His mother and Shisui were right in that he deserved this kind of happiness. And Hanaru deserved it as much.

But there was another problem. "Remember you said that the darkness and secrecy I live in...it is nothing you would accept," he reminded her, which made her tighten her hold around his back.

"Yes."

"Then it must mean you won't accept me. I wish I could leave, but it is impossible."

Hanaru drew back again to look him square, suddenly a little heated. "Itachi, I won't make you leave if you don't want to. Although, I wish you could," she said honestly. "All I really want is you. I waited my entire life for you. I love you so much that I hardly even breathe. I wanted to spend more time with you if it was possible." A tear fell down her cheek, shining in the warm, faint glow of the lanterns. "I want to be with you if you are absolutely serious about this."

What she was saying was that she was confident they would make it through, that their love could withstand more time as it had before. He had to warn her one last time. "Then if we do this, know that we will end up spending time apart, that I can be called away within a raindrop," he cautioned her, but she was passionate as ever.

"I know. But I can't stand living my life without you, Itachi. Being apart from you has made me realize it." _As it has done to me._

He finally allowed a smile to show, and it was the first real one she received from him. He didn't always show it to others besides Shisui, Sasuke and their mother, so it made her happy. "So be it. Then let me ask this of you, my flower," he husked against her lips as he leaned down to recapture them. She shivered, putting her hands against his chest, tracing the exposed valley of his pectorals. He grunted a little at the sensations.

"I want you to call me beloved as I will call you such."

Now more tears fell down her cheeks, which he had to kiss away. They tasted salty against her sweet, smooth skin. "S- _saiai_ ," she whimpered, her palms cupping his face when he was done, and she kissed him again. Behind them, the food was nowhere near cold; the porridge was still hot underneath its ceramic lid. But at the moment, food wasn't as important as this woman in his arms. This living, walking flower among the ones that bloomed above as well as around them.

" _Koishii_ ," he hushed back, hungry for more of her luscious lips like a desperate man craving water as he was stranded on an island.

Then it was over when she gasped and looked past his shoulder. "Oh, look! The moonflowers are blooming." He furrowed his brow, not disbelieving her, but when he looked around with her, he smiled at the sight of these symbols of the moon, of life and love.

These flowers came out in the light of the moon. They glowed the night her brother was born. They regrew the night the war ended. And now they blossomed the moment they acknowledged their emotions.

"They couldn't have come at a more perfect timing, my love." To hear her call him that made his heart throb, as well as remember what he wanted to give back to her. He chuckled in his throat, reaching behind him and taking out the blue rose pendant that deserved to take its rightful place around that creamy column of a neck she owned. Her eyes twinkled, but it didn't reach her smile when they looked up at him. "I'm so sorry that I returned it to you, Itachi."

He shook his head. "No, what was in the past stays there. And I understand why you did it." With that, he clasped it around the back of her neck, letting his hands fall to rest below her shoulders, but taking care to not touch the tops of her breasts. It rested just above her heart.

"It's beautiful," Hanaru whispered, putting a finger over the end as it was precious.

"Not as beautiful as you are," Itachi replied, placing a kiss on her forehead. "But you are also the strongest that I have known. Even so, your heart matches in strength, just like your brother and all our fellow Shinobi - and it belongs to me."

 **God this long awaited prequel was worth everything. :D Hope you enjoyed this final chapter, and be sure to leave a review. It REALLY deserves it.**

 **Upcoming which will conclude the Night Flowers Saga is "After the Rain". Stay tuned whenever I put it up.**


End file.
